Internal Glory
by mrahcsudnufnoc
Summary: It isn't easy being Harry Potter's only daughter. Lily Luna Potter wants to have a great first year at Hogwarts, but with some stingy classmates, her embarrassing fame, and some psychos trying to kill her, that won't be very easily acquired. I don't own anything.
1. Our Run In With The NDE Group

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

><p>"Dad, what's the best House?" I asked for the billionth time. I knew I wasn't going to get a direct answer, but I couldn't help but try.<p>

"Lily, honey, there is no such thing as a 'best' house," Dad replied, exasperated. "Like I said about a minute ago, every house is special in its own way." I groaned. He sounded just like one of those Muggle pre-school teachers.

"For example, Gryffindors are valued for their bravery, Ravenclaws are- "

"I know, I know. I've heard what each House is special for!" I exclaimed impatiently. I was not feeling too good about the Sorting that would take place tomorrow. My eyes followed the footsteps of the eager shoppers in Diagon Alley. "But which one should I want the Sorting Hat to put me in?"

Just then, my brothers, James and Albus, strode into the hotel room.

"Talking about Sorting again, are we?" Albus playfully pushed my arm. "See, I thought the world had ended when I got sorted into Slytherin…"

"I'm pretty sure it did, from all your complaints."

"Well, only for the first few days," Albus frowned slightly, then continued. "Then I realized that Scorpius wasn't too bad. Oh, and the Quidditch tryouts were great!"

I rolled my eyes. Did becoming Beater on the Slytherin team erase all of Albus's worries? Did it make him forget which House's team he was on? Don't get me wrong, I think Quidditch is fun (not to mention that I have considerable talent in it), and Albus being a Slytherin did not make me judge him. But, getting in Gryffindor would make up for the fact that I have two older brothers to compete with. You know, it really isn't easy being famous Harry Potter's only daughter. People set high expectations for you, and if you don't quite succeed, you immediately get judged as a spoiled brat. My parents didn't put any pressure on any of us (I mean why would they, being the super well-known people they are?), but I thought that getting Sorted into Gryffindor would eliminate all my problems.

Suddenly, a loud crash and some screaming pulled me away from my thoughts. I looked up at Dad, waiting for his reaction. By the time I sought out his face, he had his wand drawn and was slowly edging outside. I jumped up to follow, but Dad flicked his wand and an invisible force kept me from tailing him.

"Stay inside! All of you!" he hissed. Right after he was out the door, my insides went cold, and I couldn't stop shivering despite myself.

I glanced out the window, and sure enough, dementors were swarming around. Some wizards and witches were freaking out, some were attempting to run away or Disapparate, and the rest were casting Patronuses. I saw a shimmering lion, Yorkie, squirrel, and Dad's stag chase the horrid, dark creatures away, and after a while, I stopped shivering and my energy returned.

My curiosity got the best of me, and so I gripped my wand tightly in front of me (like Dad had taught me), and cautiously proceeded towards the door.

"We're coming, too," I heard my brothers confirm, and they followed me with their wands held ahead of them.

As I came up behind Dad, he heard my careful footsteps. He spun around so quickly that I did not register his movement until his wand was pointed directly at my face. _Wow, Auror training really gives you fast reflexes, _I thought. Even though Dad was, well, my dad, I couldn't help but think of him as a tough, carefully trained Auror as I looked into his slightly lined, scarred face. I slowly backed away, because having your dad pointing a lethal weapon at you is not a great scenario. His wand followed me.

"Get back inside," he told me, his wand almost touching the bridge of my nose. At that moment, I could understand why Harry Potter, the distinguished Head Auror, was both respected and feared. He finished with his death glare, and then turned back around. He kept his wand up, as if anticipating some other attack. A furious glance my way was enough to send me on my way back.

But, before I could take more than three steps, numerous loud cracks filled the air. Dozens of masked, deep red-robed wizards had appeared several feet in front of my brothers and me. At first, I thought it was a joke: that these people were trying to scare us by dressing as crimson-robed Death Eaters. But, when a witch in the lead bellowed, "Reducto!" and pointed his wand towards a small store beside us, I knew that these people were there to hurt us.

Because Mom and Dad had taught us spells, I knew that the building directly behind us was going to explode. I knew that the sensible thing would be to cast a shield, but my hands weren't working properly. I braced myself to get thrown forward, and shut my eyes tightly.

After a fraction of a second that seemed an eternity, I peeked open my eyes to find out why I hadn't been moved. _Oh yeah,_ I realized as I examined Dad's powerful shield. I could really use some Auror training. But, Dad was taking away the shield, and advancing upon the masked figures. He had shot several Stunners before I had even moved a muscle.

I spotted a crimson-robed man quickly approaching me, as if I was his specific target. I didn't waste any time.

"Impedimenta!" I shrieked, and he started (almost comically) running in slow-motion. He obviously wasn't expecting that from a seemingly helpless girl. Sensing that I could help drive these psychos away, I approached the huge light show of spells and curses. I had hexed two unaware, masked wizards, and dodged several green and red curses before I spotted another masked wizard, firing spells in every direction.

"Petrificus Totalus!" I yelled as I pursued him, but the spell missed by barely an inch. This is not good, I thought as he stopped in his tracks and glared at me.

"Little itty-bitty princess want a piece of me?" the crazy man cooed. He cackled gleefully. "CRUCIO!"

I knew that shields were no use against Unforgivable Curses, but that didn't stop me from trying.

"Protego!"

I quickly squeezed my eyes shut, and fell over from the impact of the curse.

Suddenly, angry, orange flames were devouring my insides. I felt a dagger pierce my neck, and I wanted to vomit. I cried out, but could not figure out how I had mustered the energy to do so. The pain was unimaginably intense and concentrated. It was horrible, so horrible that it made me want to die to end the pain. I didn't notice the rough concrete digging into my back as I writhed around. _Oh Merlin, how could my dad survive this? Just let it end!_ I screamed in my mind.

As if my request had been heard, the agony subsided. I rolled over, gasping for breath. I forced my eyes open, and looked into the blindingly bright sun. The man who had cursed me was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. Then, strong hands grasped me, and my eyes met the angry yet concerned ones of my dad. He led me away from all the shouting. I let out my emotions in a strangled sob, and felt his hands tighten around my arms.

"Get away from here, Lily. Go far from the battle, stay close to the hotel," he whispered hurriedly. "I know how you feel right now, but stay strong. I'll find you once this is over."

With that, he finally let go of me, and I almost collapsed. When I regained my balance, he gently nudged me along, and quickly returned to the display of curses. As I slowly trudged up the slightly tilted street, I witnessed my mom dueling two dark red-robed wizards, and a blonde witch narrowly dodging a blue jet of light. I traced the route of the spell, and my eyes landed on the determined (and now anguished) face of my brother, James. Suddenly, blood started flowing from a large gash on his side. I gasped in horror as he struggled to sit up, and sprinted to his side.

"Behind… you…" James grunted. I knew that if someone were to curse me, I would not have time to look at his face. So, I threw all my anger at the Death Eater who had wounded James into a beautiful, clear shield. I peered over my shoulder just in time to see the madman collapse from his own rebounding curse.

I turned my attention back on James, and discovered many minor scrapes and an angry, deep cut in his shoulder. Just as began to ponder which healing spell to use on him, I heard distant footsteps. As I prepared to hex the two approaching figures, I recognized my mom's voice yell, "Stop, Lily. It's just us."

My mom and dad hurried closer, and Mom knelt down beside me. As Dad immediately started casting healing spells, Mom put her arm around me comfortingly, and murmured, "Are you okay, sweetheart?" I nodded my "yes", trying to forget the _Crucio_ incident. Dad finished mending James's cuts, and examined me.

"You look okay, Lily. Just some bruises that I should heal," he flicked his wand at the last word, and I felt a strange, warm, tingling sensation. The atmosphere grew unnaturally quiet, until Dad questioned, "James, who attacked you?"

James pointed at the masked man who had just regained consciousness, and was reaching for his wand. I saw a hint of rage cross my dad's face.

"Oh, no you don't!" Dad snarled. He leapt up and summoned the man's wand. "NO ONE TOUCHES MY CHILDREN, YOU BASTARD!" Harry Potter, the overly protective father, launched himself onto the panicking Death Eater, and began punching every inch of him.

I watched in astonishment. I had never seen Dad lose his temper like this before. I glanced over at James, who was sitting up with his eyebrows raised. Mom looked a bit surprised. Just then, Uncle Ron marched over, and levitated Dad's wand from his back pocket. Dad frowned at his best friend.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, clearly amused.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Dad snapped rather childishly while continuing to pummel the man's chest. "I'm teaching this idiot a lesson."

"Well, you just sounded a lot like Mad-Eye Moody. Snap out of it. You look extremely immature," Ron smirked. "Imagine what Rita Skeeter would say about this: Harry Potter, Head Auror, Resorts to Muggle Fighting."

"Shut it. And give me back my wand, you git," Dad had finally come to his senses and had stopped pounding the now bleeding and shrieking wizard.

"You're seem like you would start using Unforgivables, so no," Ron stated simply. "Oh, I wish reporters would see this. The honored Harry Potter begs for his wand from the great Ron Weasley." At first I thought that Dad was going to slap Uncle Ron. But then, the two best mates burst into a great fit of laughter. They kept chuckling until Mom reminded them of our presence.

"If you two will excuse me, I'm going to be helpful and clean up this mess. And if you want to keep your job, you'd better do that, too," Mom reminded them. Dad, Ron, James and I followed Mom back to the scattering of unconscious bodies.

Ron raised his wand, twitched it, and all the knocked-out, masked people came zooming into a pile. Dad then casually twirled his wand so ropes bound the Death Eaters together, and all their wands came into Dad's outstretched hand.

A few minutes later, Albus came to us, with no apparent injuries. Almost at the exact same time, many Ministry wizards and witches Apparated into Diagon Alley. They immediately located Dad, and started discussing the attack.

"Who were they?" A dark-haired witch inquired.

"I'm really not sure," Dad admitted as he tilted his head. "There were probably around fifty of them, and once they Apparated here, they started attacking random passerbyers. I think I heard one of them call themselves the 'N.D.E' group."

"That could stand for 'New Death Eaters'," A young, tall official suggested. "Where did the remaining ones go?"

"I think some of them all Disapparated out," my dad reasoned. "But I think we got, maybe, half of them still here." A few witches went away to take the Stunned N.D.E's away for questioning.

As the conversation continued, Mom, Albus, James and I slowly drifted towards the hotel. There were still plenty of wizards and witches standing around, being questioned by arriving reporters.

"You lot must be very tired," Mom said as we entered the room. "But there is one thing that I must keep clear to you all. Your dad told me that he specifically told you all not to go outside after the Dementors had surrounded the alley, but you directly defied him. Even though you all benefitted our side, I never want to see any of you fighting potentially dangerous Dark creatures and wizards. This is the real world, and many people will stop at nothing to get in power. Do you understand?"

We all nodded obediently. James, Albus and I had all learned the hard way never to interrupt Mom while she was lecturing us. After a few more minutes of reprimanding us, Mom let us get our rest.

I flopped down on the soft bed in my hotel room, and almost immediately fell asleep.

* * *

><p>After what it felt like two seconds, Dad was waking me up for dinner.<p>

"If you're hungry, we're going out to eat tonight," Dad informed me. "Are you alright? I know that the Cruciatus curse leaves people feeling quite strange."

"I'm fine," I lied. He looked at me strangely. The Cruciatus curse had made me all jumpy and now I felt hollow inside. I knew that Dad, being a pretty accomplished Legilimens, would be able to tell that I was not being truthful. I tried to use the little Occlumency I knew (because who wants somebody going through your thoughts, even if it is your dad?), but I guess that the horrible curse had done weird things to my head. I felt Dad enter my mind, but exit it very soon after. He tried not to use his skill on family members, but sometimes couldn't help it when he was curious.

"Sorry," he muttered, since he knew that I sensed his presence in my mind. "It's fine if you don't want to discuss it."

A few moments later, I was out of bed and strolling in and outside Diagon Alley with my family. We ended up eating at a Muggle pub, returned back to our rooms, and then went to sleep early at Mom's insisting.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I woke up early in the morning, feeling slightly more cheerful and excited to be leaving for the legendary Hogwarts. I bumped into Albus as I wandered around the rooms that we were staying in.<p>

"Excited?" Al asked, a twinkle in his green eyes.

"Very," I replied, grinning. "I'm still nervous for the Sorting."

"Ugh," Al rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just please don't start on your 'which House should I be in' rant."

After a little while, Dad came into our little hotel kitchen. When he spotted me, he threw his arms around me and pulled my feet off the ground in a big hug.

"How's my little girl doing?" he smiled down at me. "Oh, I forgot to tell you yesterday, Aunt Hermione informed me that she is going to be teaching Transfiguration this year! Isn't that great?"

"That's great, as long as she doesn't contact you every time that I get a question wrong or something," Aunt Hermione seemed just the type to do that, so I had to warn him.

"It seems like all our relatives are teaching courses at Hogwarts... It's practically becoming the Potter-Weasley house!"

"Ha-ha, very funny," Dad said. "Well, you'd better pour yourself some cereal because we will probably be heading off in an hour." I quickly ate my breakfast with my siblings and parents, and finished packing.

At ten o'clock, we were all ready to go take a taxi to King's Cross. My mom and dad could have easily brought us there by Side-Along Apparition, but Dad said that the Muggle way helped us "appreciate the things that Muggles have to do". Personally, I thought that Dad was crazy, but taking a taxi dressed as a Muggle was actually an interesting experience.

When we got to King's Cross, I took my luggage and hauled it off a bit past Platform 9. Al ran towards the wall a few strides away, and disappeared.

James followed him, and left the Muggle station as well.

I paused.

"Well, go on, honey," Mom gently pushed me forward.

I took a breath, and jogged in the direction of the seemingly solid barrier. Finally, after all my ridiculous fantasies and burdening worries, I was ready to go to Hogwarts.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note (Please read!): <strong>Hello! Welcome to my story. First, I'll clarify some things:

-Lily got her wand at age 7 because her parents insisted that she did

-Harry taught Lily defensive magic before she arrived at Hogwarts

-Why? Because Harry knows his family is a huge target for Dark wizards, and he wants Lily to be able to protect herself

-Anything else? Ask if you're confused.


	2. The Sorting

I opened my eyes to find the scarlet Hogwarts Express a few dozen feet in front of me, and numerous wizarding families sending their children off to school. Before I could take many steps, I heard a familiar voice.

"Oi! Lily!" shouted the energetic voice of Hugo Weasley. I turned around to find a group of red-heads conversing behind me. I waved and joined them.

"Are you nervous to go to Hogwarts?" Hugo whispered to me. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I just want the Sorting to be over, and then I'll be fine," I replied.

"Hi, Ron," Dad greeted his fellow Auror and best friend. They started chatting, and before I knew it, everyone started boarding the train. I saw James give Mom and Dad a quick hug, and then scamper off with many Weasleys. Albus followed his example, and then went into the same compartment.

"Lily," Dad kneeled in front of me. "Are you ready?"

I hesitated before answering. "I guess."

"I know you're still anxious about the Sorting," Dad said. "I know you want to be in Gryffindor, but the Sorting Hat will put you in the House that you will do best in. I cannot guarantee that you will get your top pick, but whatever the House, you need to know that I will still be proud of you."

I nodded. Dad looked me in my eyes, and smiled.

"You're going to have a great time at Hogwarts," he told me. "Just remember, if you need help with something, don't hesitate to ask any professor. _Most_ of them don't bite."

Dad grinned. After many kisses, hugs, and good-byes, I went into the compartment that most of my relatives were in.

"Hey Lily," I heard many people say. I greeted them all, and joined in the conversation about Quidditch.

"The Chudley Cannons are getting better," Rose Weasley informed all of us. "But they obviously still won't be able to beat the Wimbourne Wasps."

There was a huge debate over this, but it was interrupted as a small brunette opened the door. There was a long pause as we all stared at her. Finally, someone broke the silence.

"Hi," James, always the outgoing one, sauntered over to her. "I'm James. What's your name?"

When she didn't answer, but just stared at him, James continued.

"Are you a first year?"

The girl nodded. "I'm Nicole," she added.

"Oh, that's great! Look, my sister is also a first year," James led her over to me.

"Hi," I said meekly. There was an awkward silence, before she introduced herself.

"I'm Nicole. Can you tell me about Hogwarts?" she said this very quickly, and her cheeks flushed red.

"Are you a Muggleborn?" Hugo inquired.

Nicole looked a bit confused, but then nodded. "I just got the letter, and some important-looking person explained to my parents about magic. But, they didn't really tell us anything else."

"Well, we know a lot about Hogwarts. We both have siblings who already go to Hogwarts," Hugo informed her. "What you really need to know is that you'll catch on really quickly. Most people's parents don't teach them a lot of magic, because you're technically not supposed to do magic with a wand until you get to Hogwarts. But, our parents fought in a huge wizard war, so they think that we should know how to protect ourselves."

"There are wizard wars?" Nicole inquired.

We launched into a huge explanation about the evil Voldemort, the Dark Arts, and his death eaters.

"Talking about death eaters, weren't you dueling some of those weird 'New Death Eaters' yesterday?" Hugo questioned me.

"Yeah, but there weren't many of them, and the Aurors got ahold of them pretty easily," I shrugged, not wanting to mention the part about the Cruciatus Curse. Hugo persisted.

"But, something must've happened. Wow, I've never been involved in an actual duel or anything. Was it fun?"

Forgetting that Nicole was there, I suddenly clenched my jaw and tightened my fists. He thought it had been fun? He thought that having wizards cast illegal spells at you was interesting?

"No, Hugo, it was not fun," I snapped. He got the message, and changed the subject.

After a while, the lunch cart came in. We bought many pastries and Chocolate Frogs, and enjoyed them while explaining the basic rules of Quidditch to Nicole.

Before I knew it, everyone was already dressed in their black Hogwarts robes. I excused myself to change, and when I came out in wizard clothing, the train was slowing down.

Nicole, Hugo, and I lined up enthusiastically at the door. When I finally exited the train, I heard a loud, familiar voice.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" Hagrid yelled.

"Who is that?" Nicole was very curious. I walked up to our half-giant family friend.

"Hey, Hagrid!" I acknowledged him. According to my dad, Hagrid had looked the same about twenty years ago. He grinned down at me.

"Hey, Lily," he replied.

All the first years formed a long, messy line, and we walked down to the Black Lake.

"My dad told me a lot about this lake," I told Nicole. "There was some competition called the 'Triwizard Tournament' here, and he was a competitor. Supposedly, the second task was to dive down into the water, and rescue someone who you didn't want to lose."

"Yeah, and he rescued my dad because they're best mates," Hugo added.

"All righ' now, list'n up," Hagrid instructed the large group of first years. "Get into groups o' five, and get into these boats."

Since I was at the front of the line, I grouped myself with Hugo, Nicole, and the next two people in line. We carefully sat down in the boats, and it started drifting out into the wide lake. Nicole looked worried.

"It's okay. This boat is magically enchanted so it knows where to go," Hugo assured her. I looked at our other two companions.

"Hi, I'm Lily," I introduced myself. Hugo and Nicole did the same. The black haired girl introduced herself as Megan Donnelly, and the tall, tan-skinned boy introduced himself as Riley Jordan.

"Jordan? As in your dad is Lee Jordan?" Hugo inquired. Lee Jordan was a friend of our uncle, George.

"Yep, that's right," he answered casually. He looked at me kind of strangely. "Are you Harry Potter's daughter?"

"Yeah," I replied. Riley was still looking at me. That was the moment when I noticed how stunning his eyes were. They were a strange but amazing deep indigo hue, and the sun made little white spots dance on them._  
><em>

I'm not sure what happened after that, but the next thing I knew, Hugo was talking to me.

"Lily? Earth to Lily!" Hugo waved his hands around. "We're here."

I snapped out of my trance-like state, and took in the surroundings. I blushed as I noticed Riley staring at me.

I gingerly stepped out of the boat, and my eyes fell on the sublime, towering Hogwarts castle.

"Wow," I breathed, and heard many others say the same thing. Hogwarts was amazing. It was even more beautiful than the gorgeous pictures I had seen of it. Lights were glittering from within the windows. The Astronomy tower was barely visible from the waning sunlight, but still gave that intangible, magical feel.

"Firs' years! Come, follow me!" Hagrid commanded. We trudged up to the magnificent castle, and entered through a huge archway.

There was a small corridor where Hagrid came to a stop. He told us to wait.

"I wonder who will come," I whispered to Hugo. The headmistress, Professor McGonagall, usually sat at the chair in front of the Great Hall, and did not come to fetch the first years.

Just then, the familiar figure of my god brother, Teddy, came into view.

"Teddy!" I exclaimed, and ran up to hug him. Since he was an Auror-in-training, and had started teaching Defense against the Dark Arts a year ago, I hadn't seen him very recently.

"Um, not now," Teddy whispered to me, as he untangled my arms. "And call me 'Professor'."

"Oh, sorry, uh, _Professor_," I smirked. He always tried to act so professional, but I knew that he was a young, immature boy at heart. I went back to join the rest of the first years.

"Hello everyone," Teddy began his little introduction speech. "Welcome to Hogwarts! In the next seven years, you will learn many things about the wizarding world and about how to control your powers. In a few moments, you will enter the Great Hall, and there you will be sorted by the Sorting Hat, a hat which will determine what House you will be placed in. You will live, sleep, and eat with your Housemates for the next seven years, and have the chance of claiming the House Cup, which is awarded to the House with most points. You can earn or lose points from your behavior, Quidditch and other things. Any questions?"

Everybody shook their heads, and so Teddy proceeded forwards, and opened the door in front of us.

Hundreds of faces stared at us, and we eagerly took in the scene before us. The Sorting Hat suddenly burst into song, as my siblings had told me. It sang of the different Houses, the different founders, and then about the Two Wizarding Wars.

But then, something unexpected happened. The Hat started singing something different.

_Take into account my warning here:_

_If we fall apart, it'll all come down to fear;_

_Like decades ago, it will all repeat,_

_And again, the evil will be hard to defeat._

The Hat was warning us about staying together or something. I saw Hugo throw me a confused glance, but I just shrugged it off. I remembered Dad telling me that the Hat was sometimes a bit loony, and that it could give warnings for no reason. Just then, the first name was called.

"Abbott, Rachel!"

A timid-looking girl walked up to the stool the Sorting Hat was on, and shakily put on the old, black hat. A few moments later, the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!"

All the Ravenclaws cheered, and then the next kid in line was called.

After this process had been repeated several times, my mind started wandering. But, then Riley's name was called, and I suddenly snapped back to the real world.

Riley cautiously put on the Hat, and barely after it touched his messy, light brown hair, it shouted, "Gryffindor!"

I had kind of expected him to be a Gryffindor. With his confident smile and long strides, he even looked and acted like one. _Why am I thinking about him so much?_ I asked myself, and shook my head to get rid of my thoughts of him.

Time seemed to fly for the next dozen people, and before I knew it, a voice called my name.

"Potter, Lily Luna," came the familiar, deep voice of my god brother.

I couldn't move. My feet had frozen to the ground, and I was just staring ahead, into the huge room that had gotten extremely silent.

"Please come forward," Teddy said. A small push from Hugo was what finally got me moving towards the stool. I slowly lifted the Hat, and suddenly the Hall broke into numerous whispers.

"Harry Potter's daughter?"

"Better be a Gryffindor."

"Her brothers aren't both in Gryffindor."

But, before I could hear more, I slipped the Hat onto my hair.

_Hmmmm…_ I immediately could hear the Hat thinking. _You want to be in Gryffindor, do you? Well, I don't think you really belong there. Well, well, well, there is some courage in there. But, no, you wouldn't be able to do amazing things there. There is quite a bit of talent… maybe Ravenclaw? No, but that won't work either._

_Gryffindor! Please! _I shouted in my mind. The Hat noticed.

_Oh, but you wouldn't thrive there. No, no. You definitely wouldn't perform your best there. Let's see, you're not terribly cunning, and you're only ambitious in order to please your family… Probably not Slytherin, then. Oh, but look here! You have a massive amount of loyalty. Oh, you're very fierce in protecting those you love! There's quite a bit of work ethic in you, too. You could really discover your real self in Hufflepuff._

_Oh, no. Not Hufflepuff,_ I thought frantically. _Only the people who don't fit anywhere else go there!_

_You think that? No, no, I won't tolerate that. Hufflepuff has housed hundreds and thousands of successful wizards and witches. In order for you to understand how great this stereotyped House is, I'll have to send you there. Of, course, it is the House that will best fit you… _

"Hufflepuff!" I heard the Hat call out loudly.

I somehow pulled the dusty hat off my head, and stupidly walked to the loud, cheering Hufflepuff table. But, beneath all the excitement of the students, I could see confusion.

_Right,_ I thought bitterly. _A Potter should never be in Hufflepuff. Now they'll all think I'm a worthless idiot._

I plopped myself down next to a boy with a Quidditch Captain badge. I was so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I didn't even notice Nicole walking slowly up to me a few minutes later. But, when she sat down next to me, I asked,

"You're here, too?"

She nodded her "yes", and watched a black-haired boy get Sorted as a Slytherin.

My thoughts went back to my Sorting and Nicole. _Well, at least I'll know someone,_ I tried to console myself. A few kids later, I saw Hugo get Sorted as a Gryffindor. I wasn't even surprised. Hugo could not belong anywhere else.

I saw Lucy Weasley, one of my cousins that I didn't know too well, go in the direction of the Ravenclaw table. Then, Roxanne Weasley, another one of my numerous cousins, came in front of me. Roxanne was usually quiet around me, so I never knew much about her.

"Can you scoot a little?" she asked. Nicole and I moved a little so she could sit down.

_Good,_ I told myself. _At least I'm not the only person with Weasley blood to get into Hufflepuff._

"Never thought I'd be a Hufflepuff," Roxanne commented. "Whatever, I guess this House will benefit me later, if the Sorting Hat is correct."

I nodded. "Yeah, that's kind of what it said to me, too. Didn't even listen to my request."

Nicole looked at us. "You mean that this House is bad or something?"

I didn't know what to say, but I was saved by the Headmistress, who started speaking.

"Hello, students," Headmistress McGonagall began. "I would like to welcome you to yet another year of learning. We have a new Transfiguration teacher. Everyone, please welcome Professor Hermione Weasley."

Almost everyone clapped as my aunt, smiling but looking stern, stood up. Headmistress McGonagall continued when she sat back down.

"But, before I let you dig into the Welcoming Feast, I would like to give a few warnings. The Aurors have stated that there is a dangerous group on the loose, who do not hesitate to use Dark Magic. Because of this, I warn all students not to go beyond the area surrounding Hagrid's hut, unless, of course, supervised by a teacher. I shall make it clear that any person wandering out of these boundaries will suffer severe consequences, because it is safety that we value the most. Now, you may enjoy the feast."

McGonagall stepped down, and suddenly, food appeared on the serving trays in front of us. James and Albus had told me about this, but it was very surprising to find it actually happen. I heard Nicole give a slight squeak of surprise, but she quickly started following the others and loaded food onto her plate.

* * *

><p>After I finished the delicious meal (with a lot of dessert), I sat, thinking.<p>

_What will Mom and Dad say? Will they think I'm a failure? _But, the more sensible side of my mind was also fighting. _No, they won't, Nicole. Don't be silly. They've told you for your whole life that they don't care which House you're in. _

Fortunately, the pessimistic part of my brain did not get a chance to answer, because Nicole had tapped me, and I saw a long line of first years assembling to go to our common room. I wordlessly followed them.

* * *

><p>After we had wandered down a bunch of deserted hallways and gotten lost several times, I was exhausted. I looked at a huge grandfather clock, and noticed that it was ten o'clock already.<p>

"Interesting day, huh?" Roxanne grinned. We (meaning Nicole, Roxanne, and me) already felt comfortable with each other, and with the castle.

Nicole smiled and nodded. "I'm so tired. I'm going to have to go to sleep now, if I want to wake up on time tomorrow."

I agreed and followed her out of the yellow and black common room. "Come on, Roxanne."

After we showered, brushed our teeth, and got ready for bed, we laid down contentedly on the lush, super soft beds. The sheets were a soft, light golden color, and were amazingly comfortable.

"Wow, I love this place!" Nicole exclaimed, staring up at the high ceiling.

After a few moments of silence, we all said, "good-night" and fell asleep quickly.


	3. Classes and Surprises

"Lily! Wake up! We're gonna be late!"

I groaned and peeked my eyes open. Nicole stood behind my bed, her hair wild and uncombed.

"What time?" I groggily asked.

"It's already seven and we can't be tardy to our first day of classes! Hurry up!" Nicole urged. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, fine, whatever. Aaaargh. I'm up."

It took a long time to climb out of the lavish bed, but I finally managed to pull myself out of the warm sheets and my blissful slumber.

Nicole went into the bathroom, and I dressed. After I brushed my teeth, I met Roxanne and Nicole standing at the door.

"You ready?" Roxanne asked me. I nodded, and we entered the large group of first years going to breakfast.

"Oh, my gosh. I'm so hungry," I exclaimed as I took in the inviting aroma of bacon and eggs. Nicole just smiled, and began carefully placing pancakes on the plate before her.

I followed her lead, and soon I was stuffed. Suddenly, a huge swarm of owls began circling over our heads and swooping down to deliver packages.

"They're just mail owls," I heard Roxanne explain to Nicole. I saw a small, gray owl headed my way with an envelope in its beak. The owl dropped it in front of me, and I barely caught it.

I carefully opened the vanilla-colored envelope, and read the short note inside.

_Dear Lily,_

_Congrats! You made it to Hogwarts! So, you're a Hufflepuff. Of course, we are extremely proud to have you in this noble House. We're sure you'll fit in really well and make many loyal and hard-working friends. We're so happy for you, and I know you'll do amazing things in this House. You can definitely make it on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and help improve it! Hufflepuff's chances for the Quidditch Cup have gone up dramatically with you in it! Remember, pay attention in classes, and don't get too many detentions like your brothers did. But, nevertheless, have fun at Hogwarts!_

_Love always,_

_Mom and Dad_

I sighed. Just what I thought. Mom and Dad were pretending to be proud of me, but they really were disappointed in me for being a _Hufflepuff. _Of course they wouldn't write anything like that in a letter, but I knew them better than that.

If I ever wanted them to be proud of me, I would have to really impress them, and show them that I was special.

A few seconds later, though, I was distracted by Aunt Hermione, who was approaching me. She stopped in front of Nicole, Roxanne and me, and handed us our schedules.

"You will have Transfiguration, first, with me. Then, you will have Herbology, and finally Defense Against the Dark Arts. Any questions?" Aunt Hermione informed us. We shook our heads "no", and she left to hand out other schedules.

"She seems quite strict, doesn't she?" Nicole inquired. I snorted.

"That's my aunt, Nicole. And she does like to seem, uh, 'quite strict'," I informed her, grinning.

"Yeah, I bet she's going to make us do, like, fifth year stuff this year," Roxanne added.

"Well, let's go and find out, huh?" Nicole led us toward the rest of the first year Hufflepuffs, who were nervously filing out the Great Hall.

We followed them for a while, before we arrived in a spacious room. Aunt Hermione came in right behind us, and briskly headed toward the front of the room.

"Hello, everyone. I hope that you are having a good time at Hogwarts, and welcome to Transfiguration. My name is Professor Weasley, and I expect you all to refer to me as 'professor' or some other appropriate form of addressing. In this class, we will be learning about the fine and precise art of transforming objects into something completely different. This is not easy, and is much more than just saying a few random words and flicking your wrist. This class will require your utmost attention, and I hope that you will remember to always listen to my instructions, and follow them. Any questions?"

No one moved an inch. We all sat quietly, as if mesmerized by her introduction.

"Good. Now, please put your wands away, and take out your parchment and quill."

For the rest of the class, we took notes on her lecture about the theory of Transfiguration. The whole class was pretty much uneventful until Aunt Hermione, or _Professor Weasley,_ mentioned something that triggered a funny memory.

"Human transfiguration is extremely complex. It is typically taught at the NEWT level, because it is known to be very dangerous to immature and unpracticed students," Professor Weasley informed us.

"Hey, I've heard of that! A long time ago, Dad tried to transform himself into a desk, but he kind of failed," I whispered to Nicole. "He looked all wooden, but he still had his feet attached. Oh yeah, and he couldn't turn himself back until Mom came back home."

I chuckled at the memory. I had been deciding whether to freak out or laugh, because how often do you see your dad as a table?

Suddenly, I realized that the room had gone eerily silent. Professor Weasley was staring hard at me.

"Miss Potter. Do you have something you would like to share with the class?" she inquired.

"Uh, not really," I stammered.

"Hm, well it seemed like you were really into that conversation you were having with Miss Steiner," she persisted.

"Well, um, it was only really meant for her," I said hesitantly.

"Are you going to address me properly, or should I repeat my instructions from the beginning of class?" Professor Weasley asked.

"What?" I was so nervous that I couldn't comprehend her words. I mean, Aunt Hermione was strict enough as an aunt, but she was even scarier as a professor.

"I mentioned, at the beginning of the class, that you were to refer to me properly. Are you planning on following my classroom rules?"

My hands were shaking, and I internally groaned at being picked on in the first class. My heartbeat sounded loudly in my ear. I felt dizzy and lightheaded, and couldn't focus on anything except not passing out from the embarrassment.

"Please answer me, Miss Potter, or I will have to deduct House points."

_Oh, no, what was she asking, again? _I looked to Nicole for help, but she looked even more nervous than me.

Not knowing what to do, I just shook my head "no", and stared down at my damp hands.

"Oh, so you disagree with my classroom procedures and my direct instructions?" an eyebrow shot up into her hair. Her challenging tone echoed in my ear.

"Uh, no, not-" I tried to communicate to her that she had misunderstood me, but my mouth wasn't working well.

"But it so appeared that you were contradicting my rules. How about I clarify them with you later today in detention," she ended her sentence with the tone of finality, and I did not dare say anymore.

* * *

><p>The rest of Transfiguration for me was horrible. People kept stealing glances over at me, and I could almost hear them scoffing at me.<p>

_Ha ha, Harry Potter's_ Hufflepuff_ daughter has already gotten herself into trouble,_ I could sense everyone chanting in their minds.

When, finally, the class was over, I dumped my stuff into my bag, and turned to finally leave the oppressive classroom. But, apparently I couldn't, because I heard a stern voice say,

"Stay here, Miss Potter, so we can arrange your detention."

I sighed, and remained in the room. Once everyone had left, Aunt Hermione turned my way.

"Okay, before you say anything, let me just say that I'm sorry I had to be so harsh with you." she explained carefully as she scrutinized me. "But you honestly should know better than to talk in my class."

"No one else gets detention for talking a little, though!" I said.

"I know, Lily. But I had to make an example to the class or else they'd be fooling around all year," she told me. "Just think of it as you helping me teach."

"Okay, whatever," I replied.

"Well, it would be unfair to take away your detention when I've already assigned it. Meet me at my office at seven o'clock, alright?"

"What?" I exclaimed loudly in protest. "But I didn't do anything!"

"We don't want anybody thinking that I let you off easy because we're related," she warned me. I rolled my eyes and dragged my feet to the door. I had just reached the doorknob when I heard her amusedly say, "But don't worry, I won't have you do anything too horrible."

* * *

><p>Professor Longbottom, one of my father's friends, taught Herbology. He was really a nice guy, and really tried to help you if you weren't doing too well. Also, according to my brothers, his lectures weren't too bad.<p>

We spent an hour learning some basic magical plants, and then the rest of the time trying to correctly identify six pots of plants. By the time we were done, we were discussing many of the more dangerous plants, and were all excited at the prospect of being able to work with them in a year or so.

* * *

><p>We ate lunch quickly, then headed our next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was particularly excited about this class (which we were sharing with the Gryffindors), because Teddy taught it, and he was about the coolest kid anyone could know. Also, everyone was infatuated with him, since he was such a young professor. In fact, I had heard some 4th years discussing his "hot abs" during lunch. He also used to be the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.<p>

But, one of the most interesting things about him was that he was a half-werewolf. Apparently, his dad was a werewolf, but was still a great guy. Teddy changed every full moon, like his father, but only became a harmless wolf. He just curled up in his office and waited until he changed back into human form. But, he sometimes actually did act like a wolf, like when he was really angry around the full moon, he'd snap at us and become really impatient. Teddy didn't take his condition seriously, and sometimes joked that he was lucky that he sometimes got a break from teaching. A few sixth and seventh years found out about Teddy's unexplained absenses, but no more than a dozen people in Hogwarts (including me) knew. My dad had seen to that, because if more people knew, students or parents might have started feeling that Teddy was unsafe or something else completely stupid.

Teddy's awesomeness made up for his wolfishness though. He was also a metamorphmagus, and could easily alter his facial features, and basically his whole body. His natural hair color was blond, but he usually changed it to a medium brown color, because he claimed that it brought out his eyes more. He told me that he was planning on shocking all of us first years by revealing his strange ability a few weeks into the year. But, he didn't give details.

Now, he was using his metamorphmagus skills to work on becoming an Auror, like Dad. He really wanted to honor his parents who both died in the second wizarding war. But, since he was not quite yet an Auror, he had some time to come over to Hogwarts and teach Defense. I heard that he was extraordinary at it.

As Nicole, Roxanne, and I walked into the roomy classroom, we noticed Teddy standing behind a desk at the front, practicing some sort of weird incantation and complicated wand movement. Sometimes he had to practice new Auror-training stuff here, because he had barely any other time to do it.

"Hey, Teddy," I walked over to him, and observed the bright, magenta light streaming from his wand.

"Hi, squirt," he replied as he playfully punched my shoulder.

"Whatcha doing?"

He sighed. "I'm attempting to make a magnetic-like connection between my wand and myself, so it can fly back to me if I'm disarmed but have cast this spell."

I nodded. "Weird. But cool."

"So, I've been cautiously eavesdropping, and from some discussions I have heard that you already have a detention. Already been messing around with Aunt Hermione? _On the first day of class?_" Teddy grinned. I scowled. He should not have the right to ask this question, because he had gotten so many detentions when he was at Hogwarts. Apparently, that got girls chasing after him, but, at the end, he decided to stick with Victoire, one of my many cousins.

"No, it was just… a little misunderstanding. But, I still have to go to detention just because Aunt Hermione says so," I groaned.

"Don't worry. I got a detention on the first day of third year," Teddy sympathized. "But, now, just get into your seat so I can start class."

I walked back to sit next to Nicole, and Teddy stood up.

"Welcome, dear little firsties, to your first lesson of the humble art of Defense," Teddy began his spiel seemingly sincerely.

I barely held in a loud laugh, and I saw Roxanne and Hugo cover their mouths and turn away with silent laughter. Some classmates eyed us strangely. Teddy glanced in my direction, and I was certain that he winked.

"In this class, you will learn the basics of protecting yourself from Dark wizards, which you will find extremely useful in the future. Although, more than twenty years ago, my godfather defeated the evil Lord Voldemort, many people still use Dark Magic because they believe that they are above the rest of us law-abiding citizens," Teddy paused for an instant, and he grinned slyly. "And yes, you did hear that my godfather is _the_ Harry Potter. Since I am a very nice person, I will now allow everyone a minute to discuss my relation to the hero of the wizarding world. Go ahead."

Teddy was the one who always joked about his fame, never being too self-conscious to try to shy away from newspaper reporters. He found the fact that everyone related to Harry Potter was well-known hilarious, and always poked fun at it.

But, I wasn't like that. I hated how almost everyone in the class turned my way when my dad was mentioned. I hated getting compared to my dad, because, well, I was myself, not the "Savior of the Wizarding World".

But, even though Teddy was joking and being his usual, sarcastic self when he told us that we could spend one minute obsessing over Harry Potter, I did hear excited whispering throughout the entire classroom.

"My gosh, was he raised by 'The Chosen One'? Or are his parents still alive?"

"That's why he knows Lily!"

"But Lily is Harry Potter _daughter_, so she's probably more famous."

I rolled my eyes, then caught Teddy laughing at my expression. I threw him my best death glare, then turned to Nicole.

"Can you believe these idiots?" I gestured around the room.

"Is our dad really that famous?" Nicole questioned in return.

"Ugh, Nicole. Don't be like the rest of them," I pretended to shudder in disgust. "I mean, who calls my dad 'The Chosen One'? That's just stupid!"

"Okay, everybody. Wrap up your intriguing discussions about Harry Potter, and let's talk about Defense. Who has ever shot a spell at anybody at all?"

I slowly raised my hand, as did Roxanne. Hugo, from across the room, did as well.

"Excellent. And what are your names?"

Wow. Was he really going to pretend that he didn't know us? Or was he just trying to confuse or embarrass us? The latter was probably true. Teddy always teased and mocked us, because he was just so funny and crazy.

"Hugo Weasley," I saw Hugo's ears turn a bit red_. Just like his father_, I thought wearily.

"Roxanne Weasley," Roxanne muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"Lily Luna Potter," I sighed.

"That's fabulous! Everybody, feel free to go to these three experts for help if you need it," Teddy informed. He swished his wand, and suddenly, the desks were all pushed to the side, and everyone nearly plopped down on the ground.

"Oh, I love using magic," Teddy mused, and looked into the distance dreamily. "But, enough of this chitchat. Today, I will be teaching you a very basic skill of Defense: disarming. So, could I get one brave volunteer to help me demonstrate this skill?"

Teddy looked around wistfully, but no one moved a muscle. We all eyed one another, willing someone to put their hand in the air. Finally, Hugo laughed, and said,

"Fine, you bunch of pussies, I'll do it."

Teddy grinned. "Great! I see we have a true Gryffindor here!"

That comment was supposed to be harmless, but it gave me a sinking feeling inside. Of course, if I had raised my hand, Teddy wouldn't have called me a "true Gryffindor". Maybe just a "true Hufflepuff", and what did that mean? Nothing special.

"Okay, Mister Weasley," Teddy started. _"_Do you know how to disarm?"

"Uh, duh," Hugo replied. "You've seen me do that billions of times!"

"No need to be mouthy with me. I'm a teacher, for Merlin's sake!" Teddy cried in mock offense.

"Just get on with it, _Professor_," Hugo sarcastically said.

"Okay, okay. So, the word is 'Expelliarmus'. Everyone repeat after me. Expelliarmus!" Teddy instructed. We all obediently repeated the word. "Great. Now, remember, try to imagine the other person's wand flying out of their hand, while you say it."

He turned back to Hugo. "Ready to give it a try?"

"Expelliarmus!" Hugo called, and Teddy's wand came cleanly out of his hands in a perfect demonstration of the spell.

"That was great! Now, watch this," Teddy held his hand out, and his wand came flying back to him. "There is a very complex spell that lets your wand come back to you after you've been disarmed, which I performed earlier. If you guys ever decide to become Aurors, you'll learn this. Okay, now, everyone pair up with a partner, and try to disarm them."

I paired up with Nicole, while Roxanne paired up with Hugo.

"Do you wanna try first?" I asked Nicole. I was pretty sure that she had not done any spell, curse, or hex with her wand yet.

"Sure," she replied hesitantly. "Expelliarmus!"

I had purposely not gripped my wand very tightly, and it easily slipped out of my relaxed hold.

"Wow, that's amazing for your first time!" I complimented her, as she blushed. I went to retrieve my ten inch, willow and dragon heartstring wand, which I had used since I was seven. Dad had taught me loads of spells with this wand, because he was just a bit paranoid about a "next Voldemort". I guess being Head Auror and the one to fight Voldemort does that to you.

"Expelliarmus!" I said, and Nicole's wand gracefully flew out of her grip. Just then, Teddy came around to us.

"So, how's it going?" he asked.

"Nicole's really good!" I exclaimed. "She disarmed me on her first try!"

"Great! I'm pleased to hear it. And you, Lily?"

"You mean 'Miss Potter'?" I corrected with a grin.

"Whatever. I'll just call you that when it's _necessary_. So, Lily, I've seen you do this about three years ago," Teddy said. "So, why don't you challenge yourself? I know you were working on nonverbal spells a few days ago, so try disarming without saying anything."

"Uh, sure," I replied. I had just started working on nonverbal spells with Dad a week ago, and I had almost gotten the hang of it.

Nicole disarmed me again, and then I tried to nonverbally disarm her. _Expelliarmus! _I thought forcefully. Her wand sped out of her grasp. Nicole gawked at me.

"Wow! How did you do that? Without saying anything?"

"Well, my dad showed me how pretty recently, because my oldest brother was learning this in his Defense class, and we basically just all learn together," I answered.

"But, that must be super advanced!" Nicole seemed astounded.

"It's not really that hard. I mean, I had lots of time to practice at home when my brothers were at Hogwarts, and my dad would just teach me in his free time. I think I'm pretty much up to NEWT level stuff in Defense. But, I've only done a really tiny bit of stuff in Charms and Transfiguration, and basically none in everything else," I informed her. "I've been interested in Defense for a long time, and that's probably the only thing I'm really good at. Oh, but I also love quidditch."

"But, you must be, like, amazing at this! Why don't you move to a higher Defense class?"

I thought for a bit.

"I don't really want to be with the older kids, because, you know, it would be awkward. But I don't know, maybe Teddy will tell me to. I would be pretty bored here," Nicole's suggestion sounded more tempting by the moment. I reminded myself to ask Teddy for his thoughts after class. "Come on, do the spell again."

* * *

><p>Nicole and I disarmed each other several times, before Teddy called the class to an end.<p>

"Good job, everyone. I'll see you soon, and don't forget to keep practicing!"

Everyone began filing out of the classroom, but I hung back to talk with Teddy.

"So, you want to move to a different Defense class?" he asked me.

He had read my mind. I swear.

"Wow, are you a Seer? You should get you Inner Eye checked, maybe you have extraordinary skill at Divination!" I suggested. Teddy chuckled. "But yeah, that was what I was wondering about."

"I think you should. You're not going to learn anything here. How good are you? Have you mastered nonverbal spells yet?" Teddy inquired.

"I think I'm getting there," I bit my lip. "That's sixth-year stuff, right?"

"Well, they've just started those. You know, Lily, I think you are better than both your brothers right now. You got your wand at the same time as Albus did, and you have even more practice than James because you spent most of your time at home learning Defense. You have got loads of magic and talent, and you work harder than your siblings combined," Teddy evaluated. "I think you're ready to go to sixth- or seventh-year Defense."

"Well, wouldn't it be weird to have a random first-year in their class?" I was particularly concerned about this. "I mean, won't everyone think I'm weird? Will they hate me because, you know, I'm a Potter and I'm in a Defense class way above first-year?"

"Of course it would be a bit uncomfortable, but it's not like this beginning class would benefit you in any way," Teddy reasoned. "You have the potential to become a great Auror, Lily. Don't waste years learning things that you're already proficient at. So, what do you think?"

"I guess switching classes would be the best choice. I mean, I'm already bored, and it's only been the first day." I said hesitantly. "Well, I don't think I'm quite up to seventh-year stuff. Could I just go with the sixth-years?"

"Great! You'll be one of the best there, I'm sure. I'll owl your parents, and I'm sure they'll agree. Just let me work some things out with your Head of House, Professor Daniels," Teddy said enthusiastically. "Actually, I can just quickly write to your parents write now. You go on to dinner now."

"Thanks, Teddy," I quickly hugged him and scampered off into the corridor.

I turned a corner, but then realized that I wasn't in a recognizable hallway. It was approaching darkness, and I suddenly felt a creepy feeling overcome me.

"Ugh, stupid, confusing castle," I muttered. _Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Lily. This is what put you into Hufflepuff, _I thought disgustedly.

Just as I turned around, I heard echoing footsteps behind me. "Teddy?"

This could not be Teddy. He was in his classroom, writing a letter. But, who else would be wandering around at dinnertime?

I raised my wand, and considered shouting for Teddy. But, before I could decide what to do, I heard another pair of footsteps. I froze in place, overwhelmed by terror.

"Silencio!" a low voice rasped. I felt my throat constrict from the spell.

Even though I knew that running would be the most practical thing to do, my body could not oblige. _This is not good_, I thought frantically.

"It is her, you're sure?" the same voice questioned.

"It is," a woman's voice confirmed. They swiftly moved forward, and I saw their figures. The woman had dark brown hair and arched eyebrows. She seemed a bit arrogant, and seemed to stand over the man. The man had black hair, pale skin, and a big nose. _Who are these people?_ I thought.

I stared, wide-eyed at the wizard and witch. I knew that I could not speak, but I tried.

"Stupefy!" I attempted to say. But, not a single sound came out.

"Watch out! The helpless little girl is trying to curse us!" the woman laughed humorlessly. This remark angered me, and I found that my feet had regained motion. I spun around, and started to sprint towards the other corridor.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of bright green light came rushing toward me, and I narrowly dodged it. I stopped and whirled around in surprise. They weren't just playing around if they were using the Killing Curse.

"What are you doing? The girl needs to be alive!" the woman shrieked.

"Fine! Petrificus Totalus!"

_Protego! _I thought with all my energy, and knew that my wordless spell had been successful. I heard a loud crash, and a high-pitched scream.

"Imperio!" the woman cried.

I felt a blissful feeling overcome me, and a commanding voice resonated in my head.

_Walk with me. Come, follow me out of Hogwarts._

I felt so confused. I knew, deep inside, that this command was not to be followed. But, then again, it couldn't be bad because I felt completely safe.

But, before I could think anymore, I heard loud cracks and shouting, and I was hurtled into unconsciousness.


	4. Much Ado About Someone

"I will not allow my daughter's mind to be played around with like that!" a voice I recognized as my dad's whispered harshly.

"It will benefit the case immensely. We can make very little progress without her memories. The information we have at this moment is not nearly enough!"

There was a pause.

"Well, if it will help the case that much, maybe I'll consider it. Let's wait and see what Lily says; Poppy said she'll come around any time now," my dad finally replied.

After a few silent seconds, I forced my eyes open. My surroundings were so pristinely white, it took a while for my eyes to take it all in. I immediately realized that it was late morning, and that I was in the Hospital Wing. Dad and some unknown Ministry official were discussing something a few feet away from me.

"Dad?" I called hoarsely.

Dad turned around and smiled when he saw me awake. He conjured a glass of water, handed it to me, and gently kissed my forehead.

"Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?" Dad sat down on the chair by my infirmary bed.

"A bit sore, but otherwise okay. What happened?" I asked wearily, while sipping some water.

"Well, a few Aurors Apparated into Hogwarts when our department was alerted. We have a way of tracking anybody who uses an Unforgivable Curse and succeeds, and we are noted when one hits another person. So, the Aurors arrived and immediately stunned everyone on the scene. Unfortunately, the Dark wizards had already Disapparated. And, apparently Teddy had also noticed some disturbance, and he came out, and accidently stunned you at almost the exact moment that Bryan, here, did," Dad gestured to the wizard who he was talking with.

"So I got hit with two Stunners?"

"Yes, and almost simultaneously. You've been out for a bit more than one and a half days now," Dad informed me.

"What?" I quickly attempted to sit myself up and, but Dad restrained me.

"No, don't get up or Poppy'll have my head," Dad chuckled.

Just that moment, the motherly but stern matron, Madam Pomfrey (or 'Poppy' according to my dad), came out of her office, as if on cue.

"Oh, Lily, you're up! Thank Merlin that you still had a weak shield up, or you would have been out for at least a week!" she picked up a vial of a disgusting, pale salmon colored potion. "Now, drink this Restoring Potion, it'll help you get better."

I feebly took the vial, and forced myself to choke down the foul potion.

"Very good. Now, Mr. Potter, I would appreciate it if you could let my patient get some rest."

"Sorry, Poppy, Bryan and I need to have a quick word with Lily. You know, official stuff," Dad said apologetically.

Madam Pomfrey paused. "A few minutes, at most!" she warned. With that, she turned and headed back to her office.

"So, Lily. Great to see you conscious. I'm Bryan, an Auror on your case," the tall, muscular, uniformed man introduced himself.

"What case?" I asked, confused.

"You know, with who attacked you and their motive. We believe that these were the some of the same people who called themselves the 'N.D.E's' a while back, at Diagon Alley," Bryan told me. "We had been noted that an Imperius Curse was used against you successfully. When we came onto the scene, we heard signs of Disapparation, and nobody was found at the scene except you. So, what other information do you know about this?"

I paused to think for a moment. "Well, I was going to dinner from Teddy's room, but I made a wrong turn. I remember it was pretty dark, and…" I trailed off. I knew there was more, but I couldn't recall it. "I think two people came, but I'm not sure."

"That matches our evidence," Dad noted. "Lily, do you think that you could have known more, but you are just forgetting it right now?"

"Yeah, I do! I have a feeling that I saw the people who attacked me, and their faces too, but it's kind of just a hunch," I described my muddled thoughts.

Dad nodded grimly to his fellow Auror. "Just as we suspected."

"What did you suspect?"

"After being Stunned, especially if by more than one wizard or witch, people tend to forget events prior to it," Dad explained. He sighed. "The Aurors want to use Legilimency on you to extract the memories of your confrontation with the Dark wizards. But, this is a relatively new procedure, and it requires parent consent. I am told that it leaves the person who was Legilimized quite unstable and paranoid. Would you agree to this if you were told that it really would help the case?"

I hesitated, thinking. This must have been what they were discussing before I awoke. Dad obviously believed that my mind wouldn't be able to handle this intrusion, probably because he thought I was weak. If I agreed to this, then Dad would probably regard me as a more courageous and less… well, _Hufflepuff_. Unless, of course, I actually did become "unstable".

"Probably, if it would help find out who attacked me," I answered carefully. I wanted Dad to believe that I was as strong as any Gryffindor.

"I wasn't sure if that was the best way to begin your first year at Hogwarts, but if it's anyone's choice, it's yours. The Aurors are still investigating your case, and you can confirm or change your decision in a week, when they will most likely require more information," Dad said.

Just then, Madam Pomfrey came storming out of her office.

"I told you, just a few minutes! And you've been here for much longer than that! You should know better, Mr. Potter!"

"I'm sorry, _Madam Pomfrey_," Dad sarcastically used his old way of addressing the medi-witch. His eyes twinkled, and he addressed me again. "You mom is waiting to visit you, but we can all chat a bit tomorrow morning."

With that, he thanked Madam Pomfrey and headed out with Bryan.

I was happy that Mom and Dad were here at Hogwarts with me, but as I lay in bed, I felt extremely confused. Why did those people attack _me_? Why _me_, of all people? Did it maybe have to do with being a Potter? And, what did I really remember?

I recalled that someone shot a spell at me, but I forgot what exactly it was. I remembered that I fought back. But, no matter how much I racked my brain for more information, I couldn't retrieve any more.

Madam Pomfrey handed me a Dreamless Sleep potion, and I reluctantly swallowed it.

"If you need anything after you wake up, just call for me," she instructed me. I nodded.

After a few moments, I started feeling drowsy and too tired to think anymore.

My eyelids snapped shut, and I was gently carried into the serene realm of sleep.

* * *

><p>I woke up to loud footsteps approaching me, and some hushed whispering.<p>

"Shush! Do you want to get detentions for the rest of the year?"

"No, you're the loud one! Hey, look, there's Lily!"

I quickly grabbed my wand and sat up rigidly.

"Lumos," I flicked my wand, and a soft blue light illuminated the faces of the intruders. I let out a breath I had been holding. "James, Albus, what're you doing here?"

"We're here to see our little sister, why else would we risking getting in serious trouble?" James poked me with his wand and glanced the bright tip of my wand. "Nice spellwork. Isn't 'Lumos' second-year material?"

"James, you haven't seen her duel recently, have you?" Albus eyed me interestingly. "She's better than you at most curses and spells. She's moving to the sixth-year Defense class. Right, Lily?"

James wore an expression of disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah," I replied. "But, you know, I've been wondering, why didn't you guys move up Defense classes in first year?"

"Well, honestly, I don't exactly enjoy Defense that much, so I never even worked on it that much at home. Before first year, I didn't really pay much attention to magic at all," Albus admitted sheepishly. "But, I'm still the best Beater Slytherin has ever seen!"

"For me, I've always been the best at Defense in my classes, but I've wanted it to stay that way. If I moved a year or two up, I would feel stupid in the new class. So, by staying in the regular class, I can get good marks_ even _if Islack off in class," James proudly informed us of his strategy. "But, blimey, Lily, sixth-year stuff? Damn, you must have worked your arse off when we were at Hogwarts!"

"Language, James," Albus mildly reprimanded James. "But Lily, what really did happen to you two days ago? Did people actually attack you?"

"Yeah, I think. I mean, I know that people fired some sort of spell at me, and used the Imperius curse, but I can't really remember anything else."

"Gosh, that's harsh. Who would want to hurt some itty-bitty firstie?" James wondered mockingly.

"Shut up," I slapped James's arm. "I'm not an 'itty-bitty' first-year if I can beat you in a duel."

"Well, in Charms-" James started.

"Shh!" Albus snapped. "I think I hear something."

I had heard something too. But, after sitting silently for a few seconds, I concluded that the sound was nothing too important.

"You guys better go soon, anyway. Madam Pomfrey'll murder you if she finds you here right now," I told my brothers. "But isn't there an alarm that goes off if someone enters or leaves?"

"You think we hadn't thought that through?" Albus patted my arm. "You have got loads to learn about avoiding detentions, little sis."

"Oh yeah, and talking about detention, I heard that you got one with Aunt Hermoine," James said. "Tough luck."

"What? How do you know?" I asked, flabbergasted. Did the whole school know?

"Your fellow first-years are very active gossipers, dear Lily," James explained. "See you later!"

With that, they crept to the doorway, and blackness engulfed their figures. I heard a "Wingardium Leviosa", and some muffled laughing. Then, everything went quiet.

I realized that I actually still felt a bit tired. _I guess the sleep potion hasn't worked its way out of my system yet, _I thought.

"Nox," I breathed. I slumped back into my pillow, and let the darkness lull me back to sleep.

* * *

><p>When I next squinted open my eyes, sunlight was streaming in from the windows. I wondered what time it was.<p>

"Madam Pomfrey?"

The matron bustled out of her office.

"Oh hello, dear. How do you feel?" she questioned as she felt my forehead.

"Better than yesterday. It's morning, isn't it?" I confirmed.

"Yes. You seem in pretty good health to me. Oh, and some of your friends have been waiting a while to see you," she told me. She opened the door, and Nicole, Roxanne and Hugo came in.

"Hey, Lily!" Hugo greeted me enthusiastically. Right then, I noticed a pair of dark but bright eyes behind Hugo's form.

It was Riley.

_Why is he here?_ I thought. He didn't even know me that well.

I suddenly felt a bit self-conscious.

"Lily, you know Riley, right?" Hugo asked.

"Um, yeah," I replied. A long and awkward silence followed.

"What landed you in the Hospital Wing? I heard that you were hit by a dozen spells all at once," Roxanne said. "Did that actually happen?"

"No, not quite," I answered, laughing a bit. "Just two Stunners. Oh, and the Imperius before that."

"Really? Did you fight your way out of it?" Hugo inquired eagerly.

"I don't know. I really don't remember much about what happened," I admitted.

Hugo looked disappointed. "Oh, okay. Whatever. But, we're glad to see you alive!"

"Yeah! There were some scary rumors about you being really hurt. Of course, no one had seen what had happened. Oh, but when they levitated you here, a few third-years claimed they saw your unconscious form, and they started saying that you were all bloody and stuff," Nicole told me. "We were really scared. But, obviously that wasn't true. They just wanted some attention, I guess. Oh, and everyone has been freaking out about your dad being here!"

"Yeah. Like when he was spotted in the hall near here, everybody was whispering and some girls were kind of screaming," Hugo added. "Now he disillusions himself before going into the halls. You know, to avoid the stupid fangirls. I think at least three-fourths of the school are in a 'Harry Potter' daze right now."

Roxanne giggled a bit. "I've heard at least ten girls call Uncle Harry sexy. Okay, that's going too far. I mean, they couldn't be older than seventeen or so, and he's… what? Thirty-something? Forty? That's just creepy and wrong."

Just then, the doors opened. Everyone's face turned, and in came Dad. Let's just say, he hadn't chosen a great moment to enter. I mean, we were just discussing him!

Roxanne flushed a respectable Weasley-red. She got embarrassed pretty easily.

"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?" Dad stepped back a bit.

"Hi Uncle Harry," Hugo waved. "Oh, we're just about done here. We shouldn't be late to breakfast."

The other three nodded. Hugo, Roxanne, and Nicole turned to exit.

Riley looked right at me, and whispered, "See you, Lily."

Before I could say something back, he had disappeared along with the others. His eyes just had some… weird effect on me.

I sat, dazed, for a while. _Maybe he did really notice me on Sorting day._

I internally slapped myself. _I am not having romantic thoughts about some guy who has purple or whatever-color-they-are eyes! I'm not even twelve yet, for Merlin's sake! _

And so, with a bit of effort, Riley and his deep eyes were pushed from my mind.

As Dad approached me, he said, "Madam Pomfrey has given me permission to let you out of here."

"Yay!"

Even though Madam Pomfrey was pretty nice, the Hospital Wing was getting a bit old and boring.

Dad offered me his hand, and I took it. "Why don't you speed into your dormitory and change into your normal robes?"

I agreed, and I raced to my room. I changed into classic, black robes, and came back to my waiting dad.

"To my office, shall we?" Dad said. "I suspect that there will not be too many hallway wanderers during breakfast, so there will be not much need to make ourselves invisible."

We walked silently through the deserted halls.

Well, at least until we realized that Dad's earlier prediction was not completely true.

"Oh, my gosh!" I heard a high pitched voice squeal. "He's with his daughter!"

I didn't even need to think to know who "he" was referring to.

"Damn," I heard Dad mutter. "Lily, stand still."

I froze in place. My dad murmured some incoherent words, and lightly tapped me on my neck. I felt a cool sensation spread down my back. Then, a tingling feeling travelled through my spine. I felt like I had just melted into an ice cube.

"Just stay quiet," Dad whispered to me.

I suddenly raised my head. Dad had disappeared. Did he leave? No, he was grasping my shoulder.

_Oh, the Disillusionment Charm. I need to learn that, _I thought. He must've turned himself invisible as well.

I examined my hands. Well, at least I tried to, because I could no longer locate them.

"Wow!" I breathed. I reminded myself again to ask Dad how to do that awesome charm later.

Dad guided me past the three confused girls.

"Where'd they go?" a skinny brunette asked.

"Harry turned himself and his daughter invisible, stupid!" her companion replied.

"Ugh, let's go. I'm hungry, and it's obvious that he won't reveal himself," the third girl sighed. There was a short pause as the girls contemplated what to do. "Ohmygosh, what was that? Did you see that? The sparks?"

It was apparent that Dad had shot some sparks out of his wand to confuse the stupid fifth-years. I laughed. Silently, of course.

We trudged through the corridors for a little while more, before arriving at a door on the second floor.

"This is your office?" I asked as Dad pushed open the door.

"Yep. Minerva let me get an office here, because I might be staying for a while," he answered.

"Why are you staying for so long?"

"Reasons that you don't need to know yet," Dad smirked. "You might be a bit surprised when you do find out, anyway."

I decided not to question further, because at that moment, Mom came through a door at the other side of the room.

"Mom!" I cried as I threw myself into her arms.

"How are you, Lily?"

"Good enough," I replied, smiling.

"That's great. Are you going to continue classes today?" Mom inquired.

"Yeah, I mean, what else could I do?" I paused. "When do they start?"

Mom checked her watch. "It's almost eight right now, so Dad and I have got just a little bit of time to talk to you. Here, sit down."

Mom levitated a few chairs over, and we all sat.

"So, congrats on being a Hufflepuff!" Mom exclaimed. In my mind, she was forcing enthusiasm at this statement. "How's Hogwarts treating you?"

"Not so great, recently," I replied jokingly, trying to forget the fact that nobody would be proud of me as a Hufflepuff. "But, that's just bad luck. I'm pretty sure it'll get better. I mean, it's not likely that I'll get attacked every day. Do you know when Quidditch is starting?"

Dad looked at his lap uncomfortably. "Well, there's some bad news regarding that…"

"What?" I was taken aback. Were first years not allowed to play anymore? But, Professor McGonagall had removed that rule last year!

"When you were in the infirmary, Quidditch tryouts were held," Dad began.

"No! But, they had to know that I was attacked! I couldn't help not being there!" I interrupted him.

"Sorry, Lily. The captain didn't know you were an amazing Quidditch player, and they already chose their Seeker," Dad said, rather disappointedly. "But, since the new Seeker is a seventh-year, you could try out next year."

Now my best chance of impressing my parents and other people was gone! No one would be able to see my skills as a Seeker until a whole year later. Everyone would continue to see me as a dumb, talentless _Hufflepuff _for a long time.

I sighed, knowing that anger wasn't going to help me in this case. But, I mean, it was just so infuriating that_ I_ had to be attacked, and that _I_ had to miss a whole year of playing Quidditch.

"What about the Defense class? Or have I missed tryouts for that, too?" I sarcastically asked.

"No, no. Teddy told us about it right when we arrived here, and so it's already all worked out. You will have Defense today after lunch with the sixth-years," Dad informed me.

"We believe that the much more advanced Defense class is a great idea, especially in recent circumstances. But, there may be some people who won't be quite so supportive about this," Mom voiced her thoughts. "There may be some stingy sixth-years who may be quite jealous of your talent. And, it doesn't help that your dad will be-"

"A surprise, Ginny, a surprise," Dad mumbled.

"You know, I still think she might not be too thrilled about this being a surprise," Mom said quietly to Dad.

"What?" I asked. I hated it when my parents were all secretive and stuff.

"Never mind, you'll find out soon enough. Anyway, what I was saying was that you should brace yourself for some not completely welcoming Defense classmates. If they make rude comments, then don't hesitate to tell a professor," Mom instructed me.

"Okay," I answered, because I was supposed to agree. But, honestly, telling on some sixth-year was the last thing I wanted to do.

I could tell that Mom sensed what I was thinking, because she added, "Or, if you can't do that, just try to ignore them."

_Maybe I'll do that,_ I thought amusedly.

"Okay, and finally, Mom and I wanted to discuss your safety," Dad told me. "To state it explicitly, we think that these 'N.D.E's may be directly targeting you."

"But, why? I haven't done anything to them!" I cried.

"We aren't completely sure, but it's definitely worth considering," Dad said. "So, would you be okay with having an Auror accompanying you to your classes?"

"No!" I nearly screamed. What would people think of me if that happened? "Everyone would make fun of me!"

"That's what we thought you'd say," Mom sighed. "I don't suppose there's any point in trying to convince you?"

I shook my head. "No way."

"Fine. But, promise me, Lily, that you'll be careful. Stay with other people at all times, and don't wander into unoccupied places."

"Okay, I will," I promised. "Wait, I've been confused about one thing, though. How did the N.D.E's Apparate onto Hogwarts? I thought you couldn't do that!"

"There is a certain spot here that only that Aurors and professors here know about. I'm not sure how the N.D.E's managed to locate the spot, but anti-Apparition wards have been recast over that area after your incidence. No one will be able to Apparate on the grounds anymore," Dad reassured me. After some hesitation, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and asked, "Lily, you haven't had breakfast, have you?"

"No."

At that moment, I realized that I had been famished. How long hadn't I eaten? Well, the Restorative Potion gave me all I needed to stay healthy, but I hadn't eaten actual food for a few days!

"Kreacher?" Dad asked hopefully.

There was a "pop" as Kreacher appeared. "Does Master want anything?"

"Yes, please. Could we just get some breakfast for three people?"

Kreacher nodded enthusiastically, and disappeared. After just a few seconds, he Apparated back in with a few plates of bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns, and pancakes.

"That will be all, Kreacher. Thanks!" Dad dismissed the old house-elf. After Kreacher left, Dad gestured towards the food. "Help yourself."

Mom, Dad, and I ate breakfast without too much conversation. We all finished relatively quickly.

Finally, Mom said, "Well, Lily, you'd better get to your class. I believe that you have Potions right now. Here, I'll walk you to the dungeons."

I nodded, and said goodbye to my dad. Mom and I proceeded towards the lower floor.

"Don't get into too much trouble," Mom advised me, winking. "I heard about your little situation with your Aunt Hermione. I do not believe that she will let you off your detention just because you were in the infirmary."

I groaned while pushing open the heavy, wooden door. I had been hoping that she would have some sympathy for me, but maybe not…

"Bye, Lily," Mom called.

"Bye, Mom," I sighed as I entered the cold classroom.

* * *

><p>I turned my head to face towards the classroom. My eyes were met with twenty others, looking curiously my direction. Everyone was already sitting down and silent.<p>

"Oh, am I late? Sorry," I mumbled to the dark-haired professor, whose sharp eyes were boring into me. According to my brothers, her name was Professor Eglan and this was her second year of teaching Potions at Hogwarts.

"Yes, and may I ask what dire situation required you to so rudely interrupt my class?" the professor spoke in a high and piercing voice. She looked strangely familiar.

"Um, I was with my parents because I-" I was cut off by her speaking again.

"Even though I know you expect people to pardon you because of your famous father, I will not tolerate this behavior. I believe in equality. The oh-so-great daughter of the Savior of the Wizarding World shall be treated as her peers are, not specially, as she is used to," the woman gave a slight chuckle, as if entertained by her own spiel. She faced the whole class now. "I will not allow tardiness in my classroom, not even from this famous young lady."

Professor Eglan gestured toward me. She glanced at me for a split second, her eyes filled with disgust. I stood, completely red-faced, as she started explaining more classroom procedures.

I think I stood in the front of the classroom for about 20 seconds, though it seemed an eternity to me. I felt completely humiliated. Why did this woman seem to hate me so much? I mean, many people disapproved of all the fame that Harry Potter's family got. But, I had never met someone quite so… rude. She openly embarrassed me, even though she didn't even know me yet!

But, suddenly, after a while, she said, "Well, Miss Celebrity Potter, are you going to stand there the whole class? I can assure you, no one wants to admire you for several hours."

A few people gave slight snickers, but the majority of the class looked at me anxiously, as if they were afraid for me.

I moved toward an empty seat, and plopped myself down. I felt mean looks thrown my way. There was quite a bit of whispering, and I heard my name several times.

I tried to ignore it all, but I didn't completely succeed.

This was going to be a horrible few hours.


	5. A Long Day

Even though it had been an hour since I had entered the classroom, my cheeks still burned.

I was so preoccupied with feeling absolutely mortified, I didn't even bother to listen to what Professor Eglan was saying.

Fortunately, she didn't ask any questions, and so I didn't need to supply any non-existent answers.

* * *

><p>I still sat rigidly in my hard chair, staring at the slightly scratched desk in front of me. Another hour had elapsed. Since it was quite entrancing and helped me forget about my environment, I kept going over the tiny etchings on the wooden desk with the tip of my quill. I was pretty sure that I had made the small scratches considerably deeper.<p>

But finally, after two hours of torture, class was dismissed.

"Oh, and don't you come strutting into my classroom a second late next class, or I'll be forced to take off several House points," Professor Eglan reminded us, looking pointedly at me. Her almost-black eyes lingered on me for a while longer than necessary. She seemed to be considering me, sizing me up. I tried to hide my embarrassment, and in a small act of rebellion, I stared right back at her. Then, she smirked slightly, and turned around.

* * *

><p>"That was absolutely horrible!" I cried, throwing my hands into my hair. "She had no right to humiliate me that way!"<p>

"Yeah," Nicole agreed. "You looked so uneasy up there, I felt really, really sorry for you."

"She's mean, isn't she?" Roxanne added. "What House is she?"

"She's the Ravenclaw Head of House," Albus informed us, coming up from behind me. He was with his best friend since first year, Scorpius Malfoy. "Talking about Eglan, are you? She's definitely not _my _favorite teacher. Gave me two detentions already! Damn that stupid woman; I'm going to have to miss two more Quidditch practices, and Scorpius is already complaining about not being a good Beater without me!"

Scorpius shoved Albus lightly. "Hey, it true! If you keep up your talking-back to teachers, you'll miss practically the whole Quidditch season! And if I can't communicate or get help from the team's other Beater, I can't do my job!"

I smiled. Albus and Scorpius were constantly discussing Quidditch. They had bonded over it.

"Well, we'd best be off. See ya, lil' sis," Albus said, as he and Scorpius rounded a corner.

"Bye, Lily!" Scorpius called.

"See you guys around," I replied.

Nicole, Roxanne and I then headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Does my dad come here to eat?" I asked curiously. I couldn't spot him in the huge, spacious room.

"No. On the first day he was here, he came through this Great Hall entrance, and… let's just say that he didn't look too comfortable with all the stares and whispers going around," Roxanne chuckled. "I don't think he arrives here before afternoon, anyway. Actually, no one really sees him anymore, because he's always disillusioning himself. People are actually now wondering if he's here at all."

"Yeah. But now that you've said that you were with him before Potions, I bet that people are going to be really excited again because they'll know he's still here," Nicole reasoned.

"Ugh. Don't remind me about Potions," I shuddered. "Oh, and did you guys get what Professor Eglan was talking about?"

Nicole and Roxanne both said that they had gotten most of the Potions lecture, and started explaining it to me.

* * *

><p>After we finished eating the delicious meal, I had understood most of what Eglan had been describing. It had just been the basics of potion-making, like how to set up and stir your cauldron, for example.<p>

"I think we'd better be going now," Nicole suggested, looking at the many people filing out of the Hall.

"I've got Defense," I said, as they headed the direction towards the greenhouses.

"Wait, what?" Roxanne asked, alarmed. "You should have the same schedule as us, shouldn't you?"

"No, I moved Defense classes, because… yeah," I muttered.

"She's going to a higher Defense class because she's really amazing at the stuff," Nicole explained more fully.

"Oh. That's really cool! You must be really great at it!" Roxanne commented, while checking her watch. "But we should go now, Nicole or we'll be late soon. Tell us about your class after, Lily!"

I waved both of them off, and headed towards the Defense classroom.

_I hope the sixth-years won't really care that I'm in their clas_s, I thought apprehensively, as I reached the classroom.

The gnawing feeling grew with every step I took towards the classroom.

I hesitated for a moment before reaching to open the door. Sudden fear clawed at me.

_I can't do this,_ cried one part of my brain. _They'll treat me just like my teacher did in Potions because I'm just a first-year!_

_Of course you can do this! Don't be stupid- they're just kids like you, and they won't care about how old you are,_ the other part of me thought vehemently. _Don't be such a wimp!_

But, before I could allow myself to think more and get scared all over again, I grasped the door handle, pulled open the door, and stepped into the classroom.

I might as well have been wearing a neon sign flashing, "LOOK AT ME!", because every head turned my direction. And, unlike what would've happened to any regular sixth-year, the heads did not turn back to the person they were chatting with.

There was a pause as my image sunk in.

Then, after a few milliseconds, I could sense a huge range of emotions in the sixth-years' faces.

Surprise. Anger. Confusion. Annoyance. Relief. Anxiety. Pity.

And that was just a small sampling of them.

Unable to take all of that anymore, I stumbled to a desk and essentially threw myself into a chair.

I suddenly appeared to become extremely interested in the Defense book in front of me in order to escape the questioning glances and mocking faces. They didn't even try to keep their curiosity private.

"Why is she here?"

"Probably messed up her schedule."

"Why doesn't she notice that she's in a class full of NEWT Defense students?"

"She's probably too stupid."

All that time, I was hunched over the Defense book, trying to preoccupy my mind with other things to prevent my face from turning too red.

_Where's Teddy? He's never late. _After a few seconds of pondering, I realized that it was probably the full moon. I concluded that he was probably transformed.

_Hmmm, I wonder who the substitute will be… I hope he or she knows that I should be in this class, _I thought worriedly.

Just then, I heard the back door open. I turned around, curious.

There was no one even near the door.

"What was that?" I heard anxious whispers.

_Probably nothing_, I thought to myself glumly as I turned back to stare at the not-so-interesting textbook.

But, before I could even try to read a word, there were loud gasps and disbelieving squeals.

I raised my head and froze.

It was my dad. He was standing in the front of the classroom.

It was Harry Potter. He was standing in the front of the classroom.

My dad was in my Defense class.

Harry Potter, my _dad_, was going to teach Defense to me, to _us_.

I suddenly felt even crappier than I had a moment ago.

People whispered loudly, eagerly, while sneaking glances at Dad as if they couldn't believe he was real.

But me, I just sat there, with my mouth slightly open. Not wanting to trust my eyes. Not wanting to trust that my dad was going to teach Defense to the sixth-years… and me.

And suddenly, I was _so_ mad at him. He was embarrassing me beyond belief!

It was bad that I had created such a fuss in the classroom when I came in, but Dad had made my situation a _lot_ worse by coming to teach. Because he was Harry Potter. And I was Lily Luna Potter.

"Okay, everyone. I would like it if you'd settle down," Dad said in a slightly amused voice. "Sorry for my entrance, some students are overenthusiastic about certain things in the hallways."

Many students chuckled, because, well, it was them who were that "overenthusiastic" ones.

Dad glanced over at me, almost imperceptibly, but immediately looked away.

Good thing for him, because if looks could kill, he would've been dead if he saw my expression.

"My name is Professor Potter, and I will be your substitute teacher today. Professor Lupin is ill, but has kindly allowed me to hold an Auror-training simulation for you NEWT Defense students. Every month, I will come in for a few days to demonstrate what Aurors do in their training," Dad explained. There was a loud outbreak of whispering at this part. "We will mostly be working on dueling and we may even touch upon some more dangerous, offensive curses. We believe that this will be extremely beneficial to your NEWTs, and it will help you get more varied instruction. Are there any questions?"

There were still some murmurs of "Harry Potter" and "oh my gosh", but otherwise, the classroom was silent.

"Good. Now, could someone tell me what you all are working on right now?"

Almost everyone's hands shot up into the air. Clearly, everyone wanted to make an impression on my dad. But, I kept my hand down.

"Uh, how about you?" Dad pointed to a girl in the back.

"Oh! We're learning about nonverbal spells," she replied enthusiastically.

"How far have you gotten?" Dad asked her.

"We've done most of the basic spells, like 'Expelliarmus', 'Lumos', 'Protego', and 'Incendio'. We were just about to start wordless stunning," she answered.

"Thank you very much. And you are- ?"

"Laura Thorne. Oh, and I'm a Ravenclaw."

"Great. Make that five points to Ravenclaw," my dad said.

He turned to face the whole class now. "Do you often perform complete duels in here?"

I heard many people call out "sometimes", or "not that much", or "we don't have enough time", or "we don't have enough space in here".

"Okay, that's fine, because you're going to do a lot of dueling with me," Dad informed us. "Now, could I have some volunteers to hold a demo?"

Again, everyone but a few people raised their hands eagerly. I saw that a buff-looking guy and a scowling girl were the only ones besides me who kept their palms down.

"Oh, that's overwhelming. Wow, we certainly have some very active participants!" Dad laughed. Then, in a flash, I saw him look my way.

I could tell my face was burning. The whole classroom felt hot, and when Dad looked at me, I got even redder.

_ Don't call on me! Don't call on me! _I practically forced the thought out of me, in order to let Dad get the message. I was pretty sure he got it, because he suddenly had an expression of realization on his face.

_You'll thank me for this later, _I heard a slight echo in my mind. I definitely did not think that thought, but there was like some sort of voice that said it in my head.

_Weird,_ I thought. _Can Legilimens communicate with others in their heads?_

It _was_ probably Dad, because he winked about a millisecond later. But then, before I could interpret his message, he started to call on people.

"How about you?" he motioned towards the strong-looking boy who had kept his hand down. The classroom fell silent.

"I wasn't raising my hand," the boy retorted. It almost seemed as if he were grunting.

"And that's why I'm calling on you," Dad said. "So, why don't you come forward?"

The sixth-year reluctantly went to the front of the class. Dad looked around, and spotted the girl who had also not been too enthusiastic about participating.

"And, you, can you help me with this demo, as well?" Dad directed towards the slightly frowning, very tall girl.

She also came to the front of the classroom, but didn't look too happy about it.

"And…" Dad trailed off, and dramatically turned my way.

_Oh, Merlin save me!_ I almost died right there. Was Dad's intention to make me suffer through embarrassment and then collapse from the force of it?

"Why don't you come up as well?" I knew he was talking to me.

The tension in the room was palpable. I could almost imagine the sixth-years placing bets on whether I would go up or not.

I hesitated for as long as I dared to. I didn't want Dad to repeat himself.

But finally, as if an invisible force was propelling me forward, I got on my feet and walked to the front of the room.

"Okay," Dad started enthusiastically. "I will demonstrate to you all how easy it is to catch someone off guard with a wordless curse, just spontaneously."

He motioned for the big guy to stand about fifteen feet across from him.

"Now, try to block my spell," Dad instructed the boy.

A few seconds elapsed. Then, suddenly, the guy had sprouted horns from an almost imperceptible twitch of my dad's wand.

The whole class burst into snickers. The guy who had sprouted horns looked stupidly at the class, and then looked back at my dad.

"Don't worry, those'll come off within a few minutes," Dad reassured him. "Thanks for the participation. Which House are you?"

"Gryffindor," the guy responded.

"Thank you. Five points to Gryffindor."

The horned guy scowled lightly, and stalked back to his seat. He obviously wasn't too happy about his horns.

"It was very easy for me to hit him with the spell because he obviously couldn't sense it coming," Dad explained. "That's why wordless spells are so important. But, they can go terribly wrong if not cast by an experienced hand. But, since you all are in an advanced Defense class, you will become great at them in no time."

Then, he directed the girl (who looked pretty annoyed by now) to the same position that boy had been in.

"Now, I'll cast the spell out loud, and you try to block it."

After a moment, I heard Dad suddenly say something (which I assumed was the spell), but at the same time, the girl shouted, "Protego!"

So, the yellow jet of light that was Dad's spell was quickly reflected by the shield and went back towards him. But, Dad easily dodged it, and it hit the wall. A small part of the wall suddenly became horned.

"Great job!" Dad commended the girl, who was scowling a bit less now. "Which House?"

"Ravenclaw."

"That's ten points to Ravenclaw," Dad awarded.

The girl looked much happier as she went back behind her desk. I heard some of her fellow classmates praise her.

"I have just shown how much of an advantage someone has if their opponent does not know how to perform nonverbal spells and curses," Dad said. "They will be able to put up a shield in time, and perhaps even retaliate with their own curse."

Just then, a girl who had answered a question previously raised her hand again.

"Yes, er, Miss Thorne?"

"Um, but aren't nonverbal spells harder? So, someone who wasn't very good at them would want to stick to regular spells, right?" the girl asked.

"Yes, you are completely correct. But, as I said before, since you all are in the advanced Defense class, you'll learn how to become proficient at nonverbal spells and curses. And, that will put you at a much better position than your opponent," Dad replied.

"Can you show us how much of an advantage you are in? Like in a real duel?" the girl requested.

"Oh, that's actually a great idea!" Dad exclaimed. He turned towards me, grinning. "Miss Potter, would you like to help me demonstrate? You may use regular spells and curses, and I will only use wordless ones."

"What?" the word was out of my mouth before I could help it.

"I know you are more than capable of dueling. And, this will really help your classmates understand the importance of nonverbal spells," he said. Then, he mouthed the words "just do it".

But, before I could agree, the class erupted into yelling and cheering, not unlike the ones when Muggles were urging two people to fight.

"Do it!"

"Oooh, Harry Potter against his daughter! This is going to be a tough duel!" (Of course that was said in a completely sarcastic manner).

"Duel! Duel! Duel!"

Dad silenced the class, then looked expectantly at me. The whole class looked expectantly at me. Dad was _definitely_ not playing fair.

"It seems like the majority are in favor of this, Miss Potter," he said teasingly. "You don't want to disappoint, do you?"

And the truth was, I really actually _didn't_ want to disappoint the class.

Dad took my hesitation as agreement.

"You may use any type of curse. I will use wordless ones," Dad clarified for me.

He approached me in classic dueling etiquette, held his wand up stiffly, and bowed. And I unconsciously mirrored his actions.

We turned away, walked a few steps out, and then faced each other again.

_What am I doing? Why am I doing this? I'll only succeed in embarrassing myself! _I told myself.

But suddenly, a jet of fast, red sparks shot out of Dad's outstretched wand.

"Protego!" I cried instinctively. _Why did I do that? It'll only encourage him to go on._

But then, another curse was heading my way, and I quickly dodged its path.

But, suddenly, like a flash of lightning had hit me, I realized what I was to do: fight back.

I wasn't going to just let Dad easily show the class how wimpy I was; I was actually going to _try_, and let those stupid sixth-years see for themselves what I can do. I wasn't going to make it super easy for Dad to prove his point. I was going to show him just how angry I was at him.

"Locomotor Mortis!" I muttered through clenched teeth.

Just then, Dad realized that I was stepping up my game. He dodged my curse, then smiled appreciatively, as if I had finally understood something.

He flicked his wand almost lazily, and a strong, purple jet of light shot out of his wand.

I put up another shield, and then shouted, "Incarcerous!"

Dad shielded himself as well, and shot another curse at me. My own rebounding curse and Dad's new one caught me off guard, and I could only dodge Dad's. Suddenly, large ropes were binding me against the wall, and I struggled to get free.

The sixth-years started murmuring amongst themselves, as if they thought the duel was already finished. _Um, no, the duel isn't over,_ I thought, mildly entertained by the class's ignorance. _I'm not hopelessly vulnerable yet._

"Diffindo!" I hissed. "Diffindo!"

Dad shot another spell at me while I was severing the ropes, which maddened me quite a bit. How dare he try to overcome me while I was trying to undo myself? Well, it might've made sense, but he should have been going really easy on me!

I blocked it pretty easily, and kept working on freeing myself from the ropes. After just a few more "Diffindo"'s, I found myself able to walk freely again.

Then, it was on.

"Tarantallengra!" I yelled, and Dad also shot a spell. The spells collided, but Dad's was more powerful, so I was forced to jump away from where it headed.

I shot a stinging hex, but Dad shielded himself.

I fired more spells, of a huge variety. A few made slight contact with Dad (he became temporarily blinded, but reversed the curse, and also started wobbling from the effects of the jelly-legs jinx). But, more curses hit me, and they were slightly stronger curses, ones that I hadn't known how to perform. My left wrist became swollen and puffy, both my feet weren't functioning properly, and my neck became super stiff.

But, otherwise, the duel continued on for quite a few minutes: back and forth, back and forth.

Suddenly, when I had become distracted by my left wrist swelling up even more, Dad hit me with a confundus charm.

I felt woozy and, well, confused. And then, I felt my wand flying out of my hand.

And then reality came back to me.

Dad had released the charm, and had disarmed me.

Well, at least I had tried.

After I had gotten over the initial shock of being disarmed in a duel (no matter how often it happens, you never get used to it…), I started taking in my surroundings.

The sixth-years were clapping and hooting, and seemed surprised and excited. I stared at them in disbelief. Were they clapping for me?

_Maybe they don't think I'm that much an idiot anymore, _I thought wistfully.

Then, Dad came next to me, handed me my wand, and whispered, "I told you that you'd thank me later."

I tried to smile, but then realized that my wrist _hurt_. "Dad, you kind of hit me with a swelling hex."

"Oh, oops. I guess I won't even go easy on my daughter," Dad said sheepishly. "Episkey."

The wounds immediately disappeared.

He looked back into the crowd of students. "These sixth-years are definitely impressed with your Defense ability, Lily."

I managed a weak but hopeful smile, and hobbled back to my chair as best I could with my feet, which were regaining some motion.

Once I had situated myself back into my seat, I could still hear lots of "wow"'s, and "didn't see that coming"'s.

A girl sitting close to me whispered to me, "You know, you're a lot better than most the people here."

"Thanks," I murmured.

* * *

><p>Shortly after, Dad quieted the class.<p>

"Everyone, I know that full-on duels are quite exciting to watch, but please be silent now."

The talking immediately stopped, but there were still many glances in my direction.

"Now, I would like you all to get into groups of three or four, and just start practicing dueling. Obviously no lethal, or Dark spells. Not that you should know any. One person should use mostly wordless spells, and the other should just duel normally," Dad instructed. "Go ahead now. I will observe and try to get an idea of where this class is at, in terms of skill."

There was a lot of bustling, as friends tried to go with other friends. I sat there, unable to decide whether or not to try to join a group.

But, luckily, a group of two boys and one girl asked if I wanted to join their group. I happily agreed.

"Hey, I'm Parker," a short, tan boy introduced himself. "You're really good, by the way."

The other two members of the group introduced themselves as David and Arianna, both commenting on my "extraordinary" Defense skills. I red-facedly thanked them.

"Uh, so…" Arianna said. "I can duel first with someone."

"I'll go," Parker said. "I'll do the wordless spells."

I stood back as the two sixth-years bowed to each other.

And they dueled. As hard as they could.

But, as I watched them with David, I realized that I could find many flaws within their dueling techniques.

Arianna dodged spells too quickly and without foresight, which meant that, if her opponent cast another spell, she could be headed straight towards the second spell. But, she was amazing at shields.

Parker didn't put much strength into his curses, which meant that they could not affect his opponent as much if they made contact. But, since he was doing nonverbal ones, that was understandable.

Dad came to our side of the room, and watched us.

After Arianna and Parker had shot numerous mild spells at each other, they finally finished. Arianna had been disarmed.

"Nice work, both of you!" Dad complimented. "See, even if you haven't completely mastered nonverbal spells, the use of them still puts you at an advantage!"

Arianna and Parker both looked a bit embarrassed and nervous to be addressed by _Harry Potter_.

"But, next time, Parker, try to put more force behind your spells, so they'll be a lot more powerful. And, Arianna, you should probably try shield more often while dueling, because dodging is hard if your opponent is quick at casting numerous spells at once," Dad advised them. They nodded in understanding.

_Wow, I guess training with Dad makes me think like him, too,_ I thought. _Weird._

Dad then left to observe another pair of students dueling.

"Hey, uh, Lily," David said to me. "Why don't we duel now?"

"Okay," I replied uneasily. I hadn't dueled another student yet, and I was a bit nervous about doing so. "What kind of spells do you want?"

"I'll take regular," he answered after a bit of thought.

_I hope he isn't too good and can beat me in a second, _I worried.

* * *

><p>But, it turned out that I needn't have worried. David was pretty good at the curses he shot, but he was never able to sense my wordless spells coming. I put all my energy into making my nonverbal curses strong, and I thought I succeeded, for the most part.<p>

Finally, after repeatedly firing several spells, David's shield became weaker and weaker. When he removed it for an instant, I hit him straight in the chest with a Stunner, and he collapsed.

Arianna and Parker applauded me.

"Wow! You can beat David! And he's one of the best in the class!" Parker told me.

"Great job," Arianna complimented.

"Thanks," I murmured while waking David up.

"Ugh," he groaned as he sat up. "Remind me never to duel you again."

Parker laughed. "Man, you just got beat by a girl! And a first-year, too!"

"Shut it," David said wearily. "She's good."

After Parker and David had exchanged a conversation on who would beat who in a duel, Dad called class to an end.

"Thanks, everyone, for being very cooperative today! You guys were great for me," Dad exclaimed.

"Ha, we're only great for _him_," I heard Arianna scoff to David.

"I believe that you will have me again tomorrow. But, for now, class is dismissed," Dad concluded.

There was a lot of shuffling and eager talking as most of the sixth-years left the classroom. Two students hung around a bit longer, as if wanting to say something to my dad. But, it seemed that they couldn't pluck up the courage to do it, and reluctantly left.

Then, it was only Dad and me left.

"Oh, Miss Potter," Dad used a fake tone of surprise. "Do you have anything you would like to discuss with me?"

"Cut it out, Dad," I said. "You embarrassed me."

"Yeah, but at the end it all worked out, didn't it?" he grinned.

"Ugh. It's not the end, yet! They're going to be talking about this class for days to come!" I groaned.

"So?" Dad asked.

"So… they'll talk about me, too!" I nearly shouted.

"They'll talk about _me,_ as well," Dad reminded me. As if _I _didn't know already.

"You're used to it," I retorted.

"How do you know?" Dad asked.

"Whatever," I sighed.

There was a slight pause.

"Oh!" Dad suddenly exclaimed. "I was talking to Hermione during lunch, and she told me to inform you that you have detention with her at seven today."

"Argh," I grumbled. "What's she going to make me do?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you'll get to clean the chamber pots, if you're lucky," he suggested. "Or maybe you'll get to forever inscribe a message into your skin!"

He showed me his left hand, with the message "I must not tell lies" still faintly visible.

"Dad!"

"Don't worry, I was just kidding. Hermione doesn't have a blood quill, or else I'd steal it from her and give it to Umbridge as a gift," Dad laughed. "Man, am I glad she's in Azkaban."

Dad never tried to hide his hate for the Umbridge woman.

"Why doesn't- " I started to ask a question, but I was interrupted by Dad suddenly pulling a Galleon out of his pocket.

_Oh, that would be an alert_, I thought.

"Sorry, Lily. I've got to go," he said, as I expected.

That Galleon was fake, and would send alerts and messages whenever Dad was needed somewhere. Apparently he been using since his fifth year.

"There's been an attack near a Muggle street," he explained.

"Okay, Dad. Good luck," I sighed as he quickly exited the room.

I followed his footsteps, and went out to the Great Hall for dinner.

Even though I still had detention, I was already exhausted. It had been a long day.


	6. Leviosa and Legilimency

After eating dinner, I headed down to the common room with Nicole and Roxanne. They tried to get a head start on Charms, but only Nicole succeeded in absorbing anything.

"Swish and flick, swish and flick," Roxanne muttered under her breath as she stared blankly at the large textbook.

"Like this," I demonstrated the Leviosa charm with a spare piece of parchment. "This is really the only charm I'm actually good at."

"Oh," Nicole said as she tried to imitate my motion. The piece of parchment rose a tiny bit off the table, and she grinned.

"I give up," Roxanne groaned as she failed to levitate a quill. "Can we just play some wizard's chess?"

"Sure!" Nicole exclaimed. She was extremely interested in all wizard games.

"You guys go ahead," I told them as I checked the time. "I've got to go to detention."

"Oh," Nicole said as she focused on setting up her chess pieces. "Have fun!"

I rolled my eyes and started down the corridor to Aunt Hermione's study.

* * *

><p>When I arrived outside her door, I took a deep breath and knocked a few times.<p>

"Come in," she instructed from inside.

I twisted the cold doorknob, and entered inside her study. It was a fairly small, with a table and chairs in the middle. There was a slight smell of old books and freshly mown grass.

Aunt Hermione was sitting by the table, poring over a large piece of parchment with ancient runes printed on it.

"Hello, Lily," she smiled warmly at me.

"Hi," I replied, wondering if I should treat her as my aunt or my professor.

"You don't have to look like I'm going to attack you," she said, chuckling. "Do I really seem that frightening?"

"A bit," I told her truthfully, sheepishly. I paused. "So, what am I going to do?"

"Well, since you didn't technically do anything worthy of punishment, I didn't feel obliged to assign you some horrible and tedious task," she started cautiously. "So, I decided that I would teach you something."

"Teach me what?" I really didn't feel like having some extra Transfiguration lessons.

"Even though it's not exactly allowed…" Aunt Hermione's eyes twinkled as she paused. "I wanted to teach you a bit of Legilimency."

"What?" I practically shouted, surprised. Aunt Hermione was _definitely_ not a rule-breaker, and you had to get a special license to practice Legilimency, or else you could go to Azkaban. And I didn't even know she could do Legilimency!

She looked at me with an amused expression. "I just think it's a very useful tool, being able to search in people's brain for thoughts. Also, I practiced it without a license for several years, a few years after the second war was over. Your dad taught me while he was in Auror Training. But then I got a license while working in Law Enforcement."

She paused. "I know I shouldn't be saying this to you, but sometimes it's okay to break certain Ministry rules. And Legilimency is dead useful, and I think it's just plain stupid that they don't let underage wizards practice it."

"Well, I know it's great and all, but what if I get caught?" I asked.

"You go to court," she stated simply.

"And then…?"

"Then you hope that the Wizengamot goes easy on you because you're underage," she said. "But, enough about the 'what ifs'. Do you want to learn or not?"

"Well, obviously I do," I replied, still thinking that this was a joke.

"Okay, then. Let me demonstrate how this works," she paused. "You do know Occlumency, don't you?"

"A bit," I informed her. "Dad taught me some when I was young, even though he didn't know how to do it himself."

"He was never able to occlude," Aunt Hermione laughed. "Well, anyway, let me attempt to enter your mind. Show me how strong your shields are."

With that, she pointed her wand at me, and murmured, "Legilimens."

I closed my eyes, and I saw memories flash by.

I watched myself casting my first "Lumos" charm at home. Then, I observed myself mock dueling Albus when I was nine, with Mom trying to prevent us from hurting each other. After that, I saw myself getting my Hogwarts acceptance letter and being extremely excited.

Finally, after viewing those memories, I remembered that I should be trying to shield my thoughts. I tried to imagine a blank, white screen in order to close my mind. _Blank, blank, blank,_ I repeated inside my head. _Clear your thoughts, clear your thoughts._

Then, after quite a bit of effort, everything disappeared. Aunt Hermione had been pushed out of my mind.

I realized that I had collapsed onto the floor, and shakily stood up.

"Your defenses are excellent, Lily," she praised. "Legilimency shouldn't be too hard for you."

And with that, she started explaining the basics of Legilimency.

* * *

><p>"Now point your wand towards me, and do the incantation," Aunt Hermione instructed. An hour of her explaining Legilimency had passed, and I was ready to give the actual thing a try.<p>

I did as I was told.

"Legilimens," I breathed.

Then, I felt the weirdest sensation. I felt like I was in charge, yet not able to figure out how to control my power. It was like having a wand, yet having no control over an overabundance of magic.

I saw little segments of Aunt Hermione's memories that I thought were from the second wizarding war, and a few from her time at the Ministry.

But then, she kicked me out of her mind.

The strange feeling was gone, and I was back in the study.

"That's pretty good for your first attempt," she informed me. "As you're skimming through the memories, try to focus on one. Imagine holding a pause button on one of those Muggle video viewing devices."

So then, I tried again. And again. And again.

After a few more times of entering her thoughts and receiving suggestions, I was absolutely exhausted. I had gained some form of control over viewing memories, but I hadn't quite completely mastered it.

"So, Lily, let's call this a night," Aunt Hermione told me as I exited her mind for the seemingly billionth time. "You definitely learned something new, didn't you?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "This stuff is really tiring, though."

She laughed. "Yes, it definitely is. And especially for someone as young as you. I would never have thought of teaching a first-year Legilimency before meeting you, but you're awfully skilled and mature when it comes to magic. You could make some Ministry workers jealous of your ability right now!"

I grinned, red-faced, then stood up to leave.

"Thanks, Aunt Hermione. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Lily. And of course, don't discuss this with too many people." she replied with a small wink.

"Of course," I said as I exited the room.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I woke up, still dressed in the robes I had worn the day before. I felt much happier and much less tired.<p>

The day passed by super quickly, completely unlike the one before.

I learned to identify some new plants and was retaught how to cast the Leviosa charm in class. Although I dreaded going back to Potions, Professor Eglan didn't even give me _that_ hard of a time.

I had dinner with James, Albus, Mom and Dad. The Muggle attack that Dad had raced to turned out to be nothing big, just some troublemakers fooling around. We joked, laughed and talked, and it almost seemed like we were home again.

Even though the week hadn't exactly been uneventful, the weekend arrived before I even expected it.

* * *

><p>I woke up later than usual the next day, my first Saturday at Hogwarts. It was a dreary, cloudy day.<p>

But, the thought of the weather was immediately erased once James ran into me on my way back from breakfast.

"Lily! How's my favorite little sis?" he asked enthusiastically. _I'm his only little sis_, I thought, rolling my eyes internally.

"I'm fine. The week's been kinda- " I started.

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard about your adventures with the bad, scary guys and sixth-years and such. Are you doing anything today?"

"No," I replied plainly.

"Okay, wanna come to Hogsmeade with us? Teddy's changed back and he's got us special permission 'cuz he needs to buy something there. Al, Rose and Scorpius are going," James said.

"Sure! Are you leaving soon?" I asked enthusiastically. After all, it was only my first weekend at Hogwarts and I was already doing something exciting. I loved going to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

"Uh, soon," James told me. "Let's find the others."

With that, we set off to find our Hogsmeade companions.

After we called Al and Scorpius from their common room, we bumped into Roxanne and Nicole.

"Hey, Lily!" Roxanne greeted. "You ditched us at breakfast and we were looking for you!"

"Oh, sorry," I said sheepishly. "You guys seemed sound asleep and I didn't want to rudely wake you up."

"Haha, it's fine," Nicole waved it off. "Roxanne and I have got to do a Charms essay. You're lucky you missed it while you were in the infirmary."

A few days ago, I had gone to teachers whose classes I had missed, and asked for make-up stuff. Professor Flitwick had mercifully let me skip the essay on the Leviosa charm, because he knew I could perform it.

"Okay. I'm going with these people to Hogsmeade," I gestured towards James, Al and Scorpius, who were looking impatient. "I'll buy you guys something cool."

"Awesome, thanks!" Nicole said. "You're such a lucky duck."

I laughed. "Well, I'll see you guys later, then."

After they left, we started walking towards the Ravenclaw common room to find Rose. Luckily, she was on her way to the dungeon so we met her along the way.

"Hey, guys," she said, smiling. "Uncle Harry said he was coming too."

"What? Why?" James asked, ever afraid of having Dad embarrass him.

"He said that he wanted to keep you guys in line," Rose retorted, chuckling.

"Ugh. Where is he?" James looked slightly unhappy.

"I'm right here," came Dad's voice as he approached us. He was walking beside Teddy. "And, James, there's no need to look so disappointed."

"Yeah, yeah," James rolled his eyes, annoyed. "And how did you know that we were here?"

"I have every right to search for my own possessions," Dad replied, grinning. He pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment from his pocket. "You'll get this back when you stop making so much trouble."

All of us looked clueless, at this point. We obviously had no idea what significance an old piece of parchment could have.

Well, except James. He looked positively livid.

Dad ignored him and motioned for us to walk towards the exit of the castle.

We traveled in silence while going out the gates and out the Apparition boundaries.

"We'll Apparate you all to Hogsmeade. It's easier that way," Dad informed us. "Grab onto Teddy or me."

I grabbed onto Dad's arm, and then suddenly felt the familiar, nauseating feeling of Apparition.

I was being squished up, forced through an airless, narrow pipe. It seemed to last longer than it really did.

But then I was in Hogsmeade.


	7. Hogsmeade

There weren't too many people strolling outside on the street. It was a pretty windy day, and many wizards and witches could be seen inside the numerous stores.

"So, can we go to Uncle George's store first?" Albus asked.

Dad hesitated, and looked at Teddy. Teddy nodded slightly.

"Sure, I can always get my stuff later," Teddy replied.

We made our way down to the colorful Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes which wasn't too far away, and stepped inside excitedly.

No matter how many times someone could come to the store, they would never become tired of it.

When we entered, there were some stares and whispers directed mostly at my dad, but fortunately not too many.

Our uncle saw us, and greeted us familiarly. "Oh, it's you bunch! What a surprise! How'd you make it here?"

"Teddy needs to buy something, and we decided to come along!" Rose exclaimed. She glanced around the store, which had quite a few customers in it, despite it being a weekday and not a Hogsmeade visit day for Hogwarts students. "Oh! Are those shrinking butterbeers?"

After a while, we all started to wander towards what fascinated us. I started examining tripping slippers, which would trip every person who stepped over the wearer's foot.

"You like these?" I heard Teddy ask me. I turned around.

"They could be pretty useful," I mused. "Would they be allowed into the castle?"

"Not a chance," Teddy remarked. "I, as your responsible professor, will not allow you to purchase these potentially dangerous items to take into Hogwarts."

There was a tiny silence before we both burst into laughter.

"Responsible! Hah!" I snorted.

"Hey! Disrespect! There's twenty points from Gryffindor!"

_Gryffindor?_ I wondered, but then decided to let it slip. But then, there was a silence as Teddy also noticed his mistake.

"I meant Hufflepuff," Teddy corrected, clearly embarrassed. "It's just that I'm so used to taking points off for James."

"Yeah, whatever," I shrugged it off as if it didn't bother me. But, obviously, it did. Gryffindor was for brave people, people who had real potential to become an Auror, or have some other respectable profession. Gryffindor was for the tough people, and Hufflepuff was for the weak. Even Slytherin, the House for the ambitious, was much better.

I quickly changed to subject and started asking about how to charm a hat into a shield hat.

"Well, you have to put some sort of protection charm on it, maybe just a simple shield. Then, you would have to make it so that the charm applies to the wearer as well, not just the hat. After that, I guess that Uncle George put another charm that would let the protection work for longer, so that- " Teddy abruptly cut off in the middle of his explanation. He tilted his head as if listening for something, and stayed that way for a few seconds. He frowned slightly. "Stay here. I need to ask your dad something."

I stared after Teddy, confused. He made his way to Dad, and they started whispering. Teddy pointed to one of the big store windows, and Dad started nodding, a grim look on his face.

"George?" I could hear Dad call. Uncle George came over. Now, the three of them were whispering, and were attracting quite a bit of attention. Suddenly, Dad looked out the window, and seemed even more anxious.

"We have no more time to discuss," Dad said firmly and quite loudly. Almost everyone in the store looked at him. He started to address them all. He pointed out the same window that Teddy pointed to. "There is a big group out there that just Apparated into Hogmeade. And we believe they are dangerous."

Sure enough, there was a dark spot in the distance which looked a lot like a huge mass of people dressed in a dark red. I gasped_. The N.D.E's! The ones who attacked us in Diagon Alley! _

Uncle George continued from where Dad left off. "We will call for some Aurors. Just as a precaution, we ask that everyone unable to defend themselves please go into the back room, as it is more secure."

No one moved.

Teddy seemed a bit aggravated. "Now! Go! Are you telling me that you all can help fight against these people if they attack?"

Dad made a move towards Teddy to calm him down, and he whipped out his wand. "I'm going out to send a Patronus to headquarters. You get these people inside the back room."

Dad sighed. "Okay, everybody, he's right. Can you all please gather inside the room over here?" He walked over to a door marked "Employees only", and opened it to reveal a large storeroom filled with cardboard boxes.

A woman holding a toddler's hand walked in. After a second, a boy who seemed a few years older than me went inside as well.

More people entered the back room as they decided to preserve their safety. Just a few of the customers stayed in the store.

I just stood there, as if I was watching some sort of performance.

Dad and George were now having another discussion, with the both of them glancing worriedly out the window every few seconds. Teddy was pacing around, watching the large group of people, as they seemed to move towards the shop we were in.

Rose suddenly seemed to appear beside me. "They are coming closer, aren't they?"

"Yeah, it looks like that," I answered. "Are the Aurors coming? These people look a lot like the ones who attacked us on Diagon Alley."

"I think the ones stationed here at Hogsmeade are coming soon, but they still have to be somewhat spread apart, in case we aren't the target."

"Wait, how _do_ we know we're the target?" the thought had just struck me. I found it curious that a huge bunch of psychos just Apparated in to attack a joke shop.

"I heard your dad talking about how your whole family could be the target or something because these people have come during an interesting time. I mean, what kind of Dark group would just Apparate into Hogsmeade on a Saturday just because?"

"Why would they target us?" I asked again. This whole thing seemed unfair. What would any Dark group want with us?

"You should know the answer already," Rose replied softly. There was a small pause. "I'd better get into that back room now."

She was right. I did know why they would target us. I knew that many Dark wizards would want us dead because of Dad, but it still seemed too unfair.

But, before I could start ranting to nobody in particular about how Dark wizards were so annoying and should just forget about Voldemort altogether, Dad came to talk to me.

"Lily, go in the storeroom. We're just about to secure it."

"What?! No! I can defend myself!" I exclaimed indignantly.

"Lily, this is no time to argue with me. Go in there or I'll make you go in there."

"Are James and Albus staying out here?"

Dad paused. "No."

"Are you going to make them go into the storeroom?"

"Yes."

"Why aren't the Aurors here?"

"Lily! You know they're on their way. This is no time to be asking silly questions!" Dad practically yelled. He walked, no, stomped, over to the door to the storeroom and held it open for me. "Now march on in, young lady, or I'll have Mom talk to you about listening to me in a dangerous situation."

Dad had never threatened me with Mom before unless he absolutely had to. He obviously took this matter extremely seriously. I groaned, defeated, and stalked into the room, where all the customers were either awkwardly sitting on the floor, or examining the packages that were stored in there.

"Good. I'll pull James and Albus over now," Dad said.

I watched Dad go over to where they were standing. He said something, James glared at him, and Albus said something back. Dad pointed over to me, and I rolled my eyes.

James stubbornly stood his ground when I knew Dad was threatening them with "I'll tell Mom about this!"

Albus resignedly made his way towards the room I was in, and stepped in.

"Hey, Lily," he nodded at me. "I wonder when James is gonna see sense. Dad's in Auror mode and I swear he'll blast James in here."

I chuckled a bit. Dad could be kind of scary when we were faced with danger.

A short while later, just as Albus had predicted, there was a deafening crack and James was thrown backwards into the storeroom we were in. The door slammed after him.

"Ouch," James muttered as he landed on his side, covering his ears.

"Wow, Dad must've used a lot of magical energy to throw you in here," Albus said to him. "I've never heard him use a spell that made a sound _that _loud."

"That wasn't Dad, you idiot. That was all the morons dressed in red Apparating at the same time," James rolled his eyes.

"Where did they Apparate to?" I asked, just as I heard loud voices from outside.

"Right outside the store. And I'll bet they're almost inside the store now," James told me.

Just then, we heard glass shattering, and it seemed like everyone inside the storeroom tensed and listened intently.

We heard many more indicators of things being broken inside the store, and some more shouts.

This lasted a few more seconds, before we heard signs of even more people Apparating.

"That should be the Aurors," Albus said.

A few minutes passed. There weren't too many shouts now, just sounds of things flying everywhere.

"They're not here!" I heard someone yell very loudly.

"Well,_ he's_ here!"

"Where are the rest of them?" the first person, now very close to the storeroom, asked.

"I don't know! Check the wards!" the second person suggested.

James, Albus and I were standing just a few meters from where the mysterious people were exchanging a conversation. We were all confused by what they meant by "he" and "the rest of them".

I was pondering the meaning of their weird exchange, when, suddenly, it seemed as if some sort of cold energy rippled through the room.

"What was that?" James wondered, perplexed.

"Someone's taking down the wards in this room," I answered, surprising even myself. Oh, maybe reading _Advanced Defensive Spells and Concepts_ had finally paid off.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" another boy in the storeroom asked. "We can't just stand and wait for them to come in."

"I don't think the wards are strong enough to keep them out for a long time," another woman in the room added. "It seems like the Aurors didn't have much time to cast them."

"Yeah," James nodded grimly. "I'm going out there."

"What?!" Albus exclaimed. "But then they can come in!"

"Well, we can hex the ones trying to get in," James said as he turned to me. "And you know some basic wards, don't you?"

"Yeah, but…" I trailed off, not knowing why I was objecting.

"Let's go, then."

With that, he took out his wand, and ignored Albus's mutters of "Dad will kill us" and my hesitation.

_Wait. The other people here. _They had generally been silent and had had not really done anything, and the thought had just struck me.

"Is anyone else going outside?" I called. The room was dead silent as the people shook their heads. Well, I supposed that they _did _come in here for a reason.

James proceeded to "Alohomora" the door, taking down any wards encompassing the storeroom.

He opened the door a crack, so we could observe what was happening. But, before I could take a peek outside, the door was violently pushed towards us, and we instinctively went sideways.

There was a man dressed in deep red robes who had forced the door open. He was now partly inside the storeroom, eying us curiously.

"Looks like they found us themselves," the man chuckled to another red-robed wizard standing a few feet behind him.

"Hurry up and take them," the second man said exasperatedly. "Our Mistress told us they're not completely weak."

_What?! Take us? Why?_

Before I could process anything, the man in the doorway muttered something and pointed his wand at all of us. Before I could react, a blinding yellow light filled the room, and I felt a strange, tugging sensation, almost like I was traveling by Portkey.

What I regained my senses, I found that I was standing just outside Uncle George's joke shop, which was now filled with determined Aurors, crazy red-robed witches and wizards, and a mess of destroyed products. James and Albus were right beside me.

The man who had shot the yellow light was also beside us, and had raised his wand to curse us or something.

I was just about to wordlessly "Stupefy" him, but before I could do that, he started clutching his throat and gasping for air.

"What…?" I murmured, then turned around to face an irate James.

"That bastard," he hissed. "He _dared_ to mess with us."

I chuckled, then looked at the man. He had turned a bright shade of red now, but it didn't look like he was dying. Yet.

"Which hex?" Albus asked.

"Fresh-aired fish," James replied smoothly. "Teddy taught me a while back."

"Should we Stun him?" I asked, eying the man, whose red face matched pretty well with his robes.

James sighed. "That would take away all the fun of it, but I suppose we should."

"Stupefy," Albus muttered as he jerked his wand. The man fell back and was still.

"Okay, should we go inside now?" I asked after a while, not knowing what else we could do.

"Yeah. Let's go."

James led us to the door, and grasped the handle.

Unfortunately, none of us noticed the dark eyes following us the whole time we were outside. We didn't notice how the eyes watched us with interest, carefully noting our actions. We didn't notice how, when we started to approach the door, the eyes backed away from the window to go somewhere with a better shot at the entrance.

So, when James swung open the mahogany door, none of us expected the array of curses that would be thrown our way.

The last thing I heard from James before he blacked out was a creative string of swear words that would've made even Teddy proud.


End file.
